China’s ‘artificial sun’: misleadingly named but key to fusion energy hopes
- HL-2M Tokamak could help China reach its target of producing fusion energy commercially by 2050
- Fusion scientists can use it to try to solve challenges facing an experimental reactor China is set to start building as early as next year
The sun has burned steadily for 4.6 billion years. The HL-2M experiment lasted only a few seconds (exactly how many, we don’t know).
Nor did the device’s technical specifications look impressive at first glance. The strongest electric current that can be generated by the facility in the southwestern city of Chengdu is between two and three mega-amps, for instance. The much larger Joint European Torus in Britain produced seven mega-amps, and is nearly 40 years old.
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Chinese scientists experiment with gaining limitless clean energy through fusion reactions
When two atoms fuse to form a larger atom, they release an enormous amount of energy. Nuclear fusion was the energy source of stars, but to recreate the process on Earth and keep it under control so it will not explode remains a serious challenge.