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Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: China Heats Hydrogen Plasma to 50 Million Degrees
Futurism.com ^ | Feb 9 2016 | Futurism

Posted on 02/09/2016 1:41:50 PM PST by Reeses

Physicists in China have sustained hydrogen plasma at 49.999 million degrees for 102 seconds, beating Germany's recent record (which was just a quarter of a second).

SUSTAINING THE HEAT

Barely a week after Germany's latest Stellerator reactor was able to sustain a cloud of hydrogen plasma for a quarter of a second at 80 million degrees Celsius, news from China indicated that Germany might now have new competition on the block.

Chinese physicists have announced that their own nuclear fusion reactor, called the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), has produced and sustained hydrogen plasma at 49.999 million degrees Celsius for 102 seconds.

To put that into context, the team, which hails from China's Institute of Physical Science, states that they were able to create hydrogen and heat it to conditions mimicking what we find at the center of stars. And they were able to sustain these conditions for over a minute.

These milestones, that of Germany and China, represent a proof of concept for controlled nuclear fusion. Through these experiments, scientists could eventually come to manipulate the plasma away from the walls of the reactor and harness the energy and particles that it releases. If these records could be outclassed in the future, it would go a long way to achieving clean, limitless energy for our needs.

HOTTER THAN THE SUN

In contrast to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion is able to produce huge amounts of energy without any radioactive waste or the costs needed to manage nuclear byproducts.


(Excerpt) Read more at futurism.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: china; fusion
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To: Reeses

Now how can you even keep a thermometer from melting when you try to take the temperature. It would melt the glass and vaporize the mercury...


41 posted on 02/09/2016 6:10:32 PM PST by Blue Collar Christian (Ready for Teddy, Cruz that is.)
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To: DCBryan1

No, but you CAN get a “Crossed Stream” plasma arcs USB rechargeable cigarette lighter that’s pretty cool...

http://www.amazon.com/Tesla-LightersTM-Rechargeable-Windproof-Lighter/dp/B01A02F714/ref=zg_bsnr_10342354011_1


42 posted on 02/09/2016 6:15:59 PM PST by EasySt (Time to build that gulch...)
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To: RightOnTheBorder

LOL! Bingo!


43 posted on 02/09/2016 6:56:02 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: Fred Hayek

dear fred,

re:
“Lessening the electromagnetic containment will more likely kill the reaction. Once the plasma hits the wall, it will immediately cool below the threshold required to overcome the Coulomb barrier. Of course the wall of the containment torus will experience some significant erosion.”

I’m not so sure. You lessen the electromagnetic field, and it can be a ‘loosening of the noose’, so to speak.


44 posted on 02/10/2016 6:19:25 PM PST by Terry L Smith
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To: DiogenesLamp

dear diogenes,

Please remember:
A thermonuclear bomb is a fission/fusion reaction, with no real containment vessel.


45 posted on 02/10/2016 6:22:20 PM PST by Terry L Smith
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To: AFreeBird

dear afreebird,

re:
“Wouldn’t it result in a US syndrome?”

AND THE MAN WINS A CUPIE DOLL!!


46 posted on 02/10/2016 6:23:22 PM PST by Terry L Smith
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To: tet68

Fusion power has been 20 years in the future for most, if not all, of my lifetime. I’m over 50.


47 posted on 02/10/2016 6:38:56 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Terry L Smith
Please remember: A thermonuclear bomb is a fission/fusion reaction, with no real containment vessel.

Inertial containment. Long enough to let the reaction build up to a substantial energy release.

Nobody is going to stuff that much fuel into a reactor all at once, and even if they tried, it would cause a breach in containment before it could ever work up to a bomb grade energy release.

48 posted on 02/11/2016 7:58:53 AM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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