100 million degrees: The Chinese reactor that could change the balance of power in the world
The Academy of Sciences has unveiled a powerful magnet capable of holding hot plasma without it touching the reactor walls. The ambitious project will enable the construction of commercial power plants that will provide unlimited electricity to humanity.
China has announced an unprecedented technological achievement: the completion of the construction and testing of the largest superconducting magnet ever built for a nuclear fusion reactor. The massive component, developed at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, weighs 582 tons, stands 21 meters tall, and is shaped like the letter D. This is a critical milestone on the way to realizing the dream of producing clean and unlimited energy.
The goal of the reactor is to fuse hydrogen atoms just like in the core of the Sun, a process that produces enormous amounts of energy. For the process to occur, heating to an intense temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius is required — a heat that would melt any existing material. The new magnet creates a powerful magnetic field that keeps the hot plasma hovering in the center of the reactor, without it touching the walls.
🇨🇳 China's nuclear fusion research has completed a massive magnet weighing 582 tons. The goal is an "unlimited energy" artificial sun. They plan to start the first power generation by 2030.
The development of the magnet lasted six years and required unprecedented engineering precision. Its volume is about 30% larger than the magnet built for the international ITER project, and it is capable of storing three times more energy. The magnet is designed to operate for about 60 years at an extreme temperature of about 269 degrees below zero, while conducting electrical currents of over 100,000 amperes.
According to China's plan, the construction of the new research reactor will be completed by the end of 2027, and by around 2030 it aims to demonstrate actual electricity production from nuclear fusion. In the long term, the country is aiming for the establishment of commercial power plants, which will lead humanity into a new era of clean, safe, and almost unlimited energy.
