China Artificial Sun – Here’s the Truth

Can you believe how fast the world is evolving? How we get to see new inventions every other day. First, the evolution of technology uncovered the metaverse to the world. And now, the progress of science has led us to something, something we can call hope.

The China artificial sun nuclear fusion or Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) set a new record, breaking the old record of France Tore Supra tokamak in 2003. The China artificial sun, located in southwestern Sichuan province, launched a couple of days ago, becoming a competitor of the natural sun.  

Are you wondering what is the science behind? Well, we all have read about complex physics theories. But, applying those theories to practicality is a tricky task. Right? Let’s see how they make it possible.

The Science Behind

If we go through the design, the model mimics the natural nuclear fusion occurring in the sun and stars to produce near-perfect and near-infinite clean energy. A coiling loop containing plasma was at 158 million degrees Fahrenheit (70 million degrees Celsius). For 17 minutes, the artificial sun China made remained at the temperature, which was five times hotter than the natural sun. Since the EAST has the same potential, people are calling it a China fake sun or China artificial sun.

The China sun reactor generates super high power by applying powerful magnetic fields. The field compresses the hydrogen atoms until it creates a plasma that reaches more than 150 million degrees Celsius. Not to mention, the reactor is ten times hotter than the core of the sun, which is at around 15 million degrees Celsius. Moreover, the super cooling technology cools the plasma, which generates a huge amount of clean energy when the atoms fuse.

The artificial sun China made is a successful attempt towards achieving safer and cleaner forms of nuclear energy. The China artificial sun launch date was what everyone was waiting for. However, it took years for EAST to finally make it happen. They accomplished the first plasma on December 4th, 2020. Since then, the experiments have reached new heights.

The future potential of the EAST 

The project is costly and expected to cost China more than $1 trillion, but it is worth the investment. Nuclear fusion generates the most reliable and clean form of energy, according to the director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research, Lin Boqiang. And project EAST is a step towards achieving this energy. Furthermore, Lin Boqiang told the Global Times on Friday that this will have huge benefits on the economy if we apply this technology commercially. However, Lin also believes it is more like a future technology and is critical for green development push. The technology is in the experimental stages. Thus, it will take another 30 years more before going mainstream.

China made fake sun. However, the technology is yet going through experiments for a bigger objective. A larger fusion project, perhaps. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), in Marseille, France. The ITER is a project of collaboration between 35 countries. Including the U.K., India, the U.S, and, of course, China. This collaboration is ready to set the world’s largest nuclear reactor.