China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) or “artificial sun” set a new record after it ran at 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds, according to the state media.
- The EAST device designed by China replicates the nuclear fusion process carried out by the sun.
- For 20 seconds, EAST also achieved a peak temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius, which is over ten times hotter than the sun.
- The experiment was conducted at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP), in Hefei.
- The latest feat by Chinese scientists is a significant step in the country’s quest to unlock clean and limitless energy, with minimal waste products.
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
- The EAST project is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility, which will become the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor when it becomes operational in 2035.
- The project includes the contributions of several countries, including India, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States.
About EAST programme
- The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor is an advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device located at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) in Hefei.
- The ultimate goal of EAST device is to create nuclear fusion like the Sun, using deuterium abound in the sea. Deuterium from one-litre of seawater can produce energy equivalent to 300 litres of gasoline through a nuclear fusion reaction.
- The EAST is one of three major domestic tokamaks that are presently being operated across the country.
Nuclear fusion Vs Nuclear fission
- Nuclear fusion is a process through which high levels of energy are produced without generating large quantities of waste.
- Previously, energy was produced through nuclear fission — a process in which the nucleus of a heavy atom was split into two or more nuclei of lighter atoms.
- Fission is an easier process to carry out, but it generates far more nuclear waste.
- Unlike fission, fusion also does not emit greenhouse gases and is considered a safer process with lower risk of accidents.
- For nuclear fusion to occur, tremendous heat and pressure are applied on hydrogen atoms so that they fuse together.
- The nuclei of deuterium and tritium — both found in hydrogen — are made to fuse together to create a helium nucleus, a neutron along with a whole lot of energy.
- Under nuclear fusion, fuel is heated to temperatures of over 150 million degrees C so that it forms a hot plasma “soup” of subatomic particles.
(Source: Indian Express and Down To Earth)
