China nuclear fusion is almost finished

China nuclear fusion : On February 6, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that it managed to maintain the hydrogen plasma at 50 million degrees Celsius for about 102 seconds.

A record that beats the one recently established by German researchers and is a step toward controlled China nuclear fusion.The race for China nuclear fusion is not new. At present, many countries have embarked on the challenge of achieving control this type of reaction. But some teams seem to move much faster than others. This is the case of the Germans and their fusion power plant “Wendelstein 7X“. With their invention of type “stellarator”, researchers at the Max Planck Institute recently announced that it managed to heat hydrogen gas to 80 million degrees Celsius.

And they have managed to maintain the hydrogen plasma cloud created during a split second. A promising development that the Chinese, however, come to surpass. Just days after the announcement, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said on February 6 have done even better. With EAST reactor ( “Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak”), Chinese scientists would be able to maintain a hydrogen plasma at a temperature of 50 million degrees Celsius for 102 seconds.

A very difficult to get reaction on Earth China Nuclear fusion is a process that occurs naturally in the heart of stars like the Sun and produces a considerable amount of energy. That’s why she so interested scientists. The reaction involves assembling two light atomic nucleir to form another heavier. Only problem: this merger requires extreme conditions particularly difficult to reproduce on Earth. The record set by the Chinese is therefore a promising step. 50 million degrees Celsius, which is almost three times the temperature at the center of the sun. To achieve such a feat, the superconductor EAST uses very powerful magnets that allow the hot plasma to be kept away from the walls. A technique called “magnetic plasma confinement.” So far, no experiment had kept the process more than a minute.

The Chinese, however, intend to go further. Their goal is to reach a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius and maintaining the plasma for 1,000 seconds, or just over 16 minutes. Conditions that would make the functional plasma in order to produce energy. China Nuclear fusion, a provider of energy for tomorrow? Despite the German and Chinese advances, the road is still long before reaching a really controlled China nuclear fusion. Some experts doubt even that one manages to overcome all obstacles and technology that will one day become possible. This does not prevent others to see on China nuclear fusion, a potential energy source for the future. The hydrogen isotope (deuterium) used for China nuclear fusion is omnipresent on Earth. According to the State University of Georgia site, the amount of hydrogen isotopes, extracted from one liter of sea water, would produce as much energy as about 300 liters of gasoline.

As for the other element used for the same reaction, tritium, it would be easy to produce, suggesting an almost infinite source of energy. According to experts,China nuclear fusion also present less risk to use and have less impact on the environment than all current sources of energy. Faced with such prospects, no fewer than 35 countries including France, have joined forces to advance research and created the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). It should become the largest reactor Tokamak fusion ever built. Currently under construction near Cadarache in France, it should be completed in 2020 to start operations by 2027.

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