China turned on its "artificial sun," which produced temperatures five times hotter than the sun, and then after about 20 minutes, they shut it down. China's "artificial sun" is a nuclear fusion technology project. Nuclear fusion is the same process by which the sun and any star produce their energy.

As the world sets new ambitious targets for clean energy and moves to cut off fossil fuel dependency, new sources of energy are eyed for their potential. Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of energy. It is clean, limitless, and leaves only minimal amounts of radioactive waste. China is not the only one developing artificial suns. MIT, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and South Korea's KSTAR are some of the most advanced nuclear fusion projects.

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China's "artificial sun" reached a temperature of 70 million degrees Celsius and ran for 1,056 seconds before it was shut down. The "artificial sun" set the record for the longest time any nuclear fusion device operated on Earth. Working from a laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui province, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, EAST was shut down fast. The plant is not yet ready to sustain high energy levels and extreme temperatures for more extended periods.

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China EAST Artificial Sun Control Room.
Photo via EAST. China "artificial sun" control room.

One part is firing up a nuclear fusion device. The other part is obtaining a stable and safe operation. China's EAST is one of three tokamaks under development in the country. They are called "artificial suns" because they mimic how the sun produces carbon-neutral energy as hydrogen using deuterium gases. Deuterium gases are very abundant in our world's oceans. One liter of seawater contains enough deuterium to produce the same amount of energy as 300 liters of gasoline.

It is not the first time China has fired up its tokamak. EAST has been in design, construction, and operation for more than 15 years. EAST achieved even higher temperatures peaking to 120 million degrees Celsius in May last year, but it was turned off after just 101 seconds. Scientists estimate that 100 kg of deuterium can produce the same amount of energy as a coal plant burning three million tons of fuel.

China is seeking carbon neutrality by developing its "artificial suns," but its work also provides vital information for the ITER nuclear fusion project. China is one of the 35 nations collaborating to build and operate the ITER Tokamak in France. ITER Countries include European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the U.S. ITER is the world's largest artificial sun fusion experiment and is expected to be operating in 2025.

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Source: Hefei Institutes China, IPP, ITER