Posted on 01/23/2025 6:12:39 AM PST by Red Badger
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak achieved a remarkable scientific milestone by maintaining steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for an impressive 1,066 seconds. Credit: HFIPS
China’s EAST project has set a new global record by maintaining a high-confinement plasma state for over 17 minutes, paving the way for future clean energy solutions by mimicking the sun’s fusion process.
China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), also known as the “artificial sun,” has set a new world record by sustaining high-confinement plasma for an impressive 1,066 seconds. This achievement, reached on January 20, marks a major step forward in the quest to develop fusion power as a clean and limitless energy source.
The 1,066-second milestone represents a significant leap in fusion research. It was accomplished by the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This new record greatly exceeds the previous world record of 403 seconds, also set by EAST in 2023.
A Step Towards Unlimited Clean Energy
The ultimate goal of developing an artificial sun is to replicate the nuclear fusion processes that occur in the sun, providing humanity with a limitless and clean energy source, and enabling exploration beyond our solar system.
Scientists worldwide have dedicated over 70 years to this ambitious goal. However, generating electricity from a nuclear fusion device involves overcoming key challenges, including reaching temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, maintaining stable long-term operation, and ensuring precise control of the fusion process.
Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak... EAST maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for 1,066 seconds on January 20, 2025. Credit: HFIPS
Record-Setting Performance Enhancements
“A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is essential for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants,” said SONG Yuntao, ASIPP director and also vice president of HFIPS. He said that the recent record is monumental, marking a critical step toward realizing a functional fusion reactor.
According to GONG Xianzu, head of the EAST Physics and Experimental Operations division, several systems of the EAST device have been upgraded since the last round of experiments. For example, the heating system, which previously operated at the equivalent power of nearly 70,000 household microwave ovens, has now doubled its power output while maintaining stability and continuity.
Supporting International Fusion Research
Since its inception in 2006, EAST has served as an open testing platform for both Chinese and international scientists to conduct fusion-related experiments and research.
China officially joined the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in 2006 as its seventh member. Under the agreement, China is responsible for approximately 9 percent of the project’s construction and operation, with ASIPP serving as the primary institution for the Chinese mission.
ITER, currently under construction in southern France, is set to become the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor upon completion.
In recent years, EAST has consistently achieved groundbreaking advancements in high-confinement mode, a fundamental operational mode for experimental fusion reactors like ITER and the future China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). These accomplishments provide invaluable insights and references for the global development of fusion reactors.
“We hope to expand international collaboration via EAST and bring fusion energy into practical use for humanity,” said SONG.
In Hefei, Anhui Province, China, where EAST is located, a new generation of experimental fusion research facilities is currently under construction. These facilities aim to further accelerate the development and application of fusion energy.
One Tokamak over the line......
Fusion Ping!...............
I am sure it is just a “decade away.”
And ten years from now it still will be.
How many unfiltered coal fired power plants did they build to power this ? LOl
I believe that the University of Texas at Austin had the 3rd Tokamak in the world in the 1970’s. I was there and it was under the Physics bldg. Never blew up anything, either, in answer to the anti nukes!
The great thing about a fusion reactor is that it can’t blow up, it simply ceases to operate, if anything goes wrong...........
Swell, just what a supposedly “critically warming planet needs”, another sun!
Investors wanted.
Skeptical? Perhaps, but yesterday's Forbes article was "Private Sector Advances Nuclear Fusion With AI – New Plant To Open Soon"
The author -- John Werner -- Contributor (Forbes)
I am an MIT Senior Fellow, 5x-founder & VC investing
Looking slightly deeper, it turns out that 5-x is a firm to advise YOU where to invest YOUR money.
If I had proprietary knowledge and copyright/patent control over functional plasma toroid technology that worked and provided a steady stream of "energy out" from less "energy in," I'd own the world. And I wouldn't be selling shares....
The Chinese Academy of Science and the Forbes' folk want YOU and YOUR money. Clearly they want VENTURE capital, and that seems what these articles are ultimately about.
containing plasma for 182M degrees Fahrenheit for 17 minutes!
Another baby step.
That’s what they told us at UT. I was never worried. But think about it. That was fifty years ago. We would have gotten much further along if the greenies hadn’t stopped us. The reason I responded was to make the point that the Chinese did not invent the technology. I was there when some nutjob at Texas A&M claimed to have a sustained reaction for as long as he wanted. He lied.
Follow the science.............AND THE MONEY!..............
Exactly. Thanks for making this detail known.
It seems an impressive achievement to me.
What are they doing different?
Bookmark
Not hiring DEI people..............
This achievement, reached on January 20, marks a major step forward
Too slow. Real Moon Trumps fake Chinese Sun...
DC on January 19th:
Red Moon on the eve of the Inauguration. In various cultures, a red moon has been interpreted as an omen. In ancient Mesopotamia, it was seen as a "threat to the king's life".
The 1,066-second milestone represents a significant leap in fusion research.
That's because
1066 is truly when people began to swear.
Mr. Fusion is real! How many people know that
"Mr. Fusion was based from a Krups coffee grinder..."
Specifically,
"The Krups Coffee grinder model number 223A, marketed under the name Coffina..."
Being a case of literal fusion:
"The Mr. Fusion was constructed by mounting a Krups Coffina grinder on top of a custom-made base made from the outer shell of a Singer magnetic disc memory core..."
https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Fusion
Yeah, I know what y'all are thinking...
that it's well past time for ol' Ezekiel to switch over to
decoffinated.
(It's a grave situation.)
Model 223A:
In essence, the ∺ symbol serves as an elegant notation for representing geometric proportions. While it might not be as commonly encountered as some other mathematical symbols, it offers a concise way to show a key relationship in sequences and series. When you come across it, you now know that it hints at a consistent ratio being maintained across terms.
https://www.mathematics-monster.com/symbols/Geometric-Proportion.html
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