A new record was set at the Chinese power plant. Although scientists from other countries have already been able to operate the power plant for longer periods, according to the Chinese, the focus is on the quality of the plasma.

According to Chinese sources, the fusion power plant named Artificial Sun, Eastern (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak), has set another record. This time he set the longest closed plasma reaction. While in 2017 they managed to maintain a state of plasma for 101 seconds, now they have been able to do so for 403 seconds.

Although other experimental power plants can preserve the plasma for longer periods, according to Song Juntao, director of the Chinese Institute of Plasma Physics, what matters is how well the plasma is isolated. the South China Morning Postto It was stated that the greater the confinement of the plasma, the greater the density and temperature of the plasma.

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Nuclear fusion is fundamentally different from nuclear fission in that this energy is produced by the fusion of atoms. This process produces far more energy than nuclear fission, produces no toxic waste, has no risk of meltdown, and provides an almost unlimited source of energy. However, this requires conditions that are normally found only in the cores of stars.

Inside the hull, the fuel is hydrogen gas, which is subjected to such high heat and pressure that it turns into a plasma. This is hotter than the core of the Sun, making ideal conditions for nuclear fusion. Meanwhile, the plasma is guided by powerful magnets so that it does not touch the walls.

The problem currently is that maintaining the plasma state requires more energy than can be extracted from the power plant. However, the situation is encouraging, because the United States recently announced that it is possible to extract more energy from a similar process than was required to start and maintain operation.

If this could be scaled to an industrial scale, fusion power plants could solve the world’s energy supply problems.

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