China takes a historic step towards controlled nuclear fusion
On Saturday , China took a breakthrough in the technology that will lead to controllable nuclear fusion .
China's next-generation "artificial sun" Huanliu-3 (HL-3) has achieved high-confinement mode operation with a plasma current of one million amperes for the first time, China National Nuclear said. Corporation (CNNC).
This achievement puts the operation level of China's magnetic confinement nuclear fusion device at the forefront of the world, marking an important milestone in the country's nuclear fusion energy development.
The Huanliu-3 (HL-3), independently developed by China, is a large-scale research facility for controllable nuclear fusion. It is a plant based on the well-known tokamak technology, perhaps the most traditional way to achieve nuclear fusion. Here's a computer-processed image.
High confinement mode, or H-mode, is an advanced mode of operation in magnetic confinement fusion devices, which can improve the economic efficiency of a fusion reactor.
For this reason, H-mode was chosen as the standard mode of operation for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), currently under construction and the largest public fusion project in the world, funded and operated by seven members: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
The conditions for carrying out nuclear fusion reactions are extremely difficult. In a vacuum environment, the plasma temperature must reach more than 100 million degrees Celsius. Until these conditions are met, reactions will not occur. Therefore, the nuclear fusion reactor is safe and controllable.
As a cutting-edge technology, controllable nuclear fusion is regarded as one of the most important methods of addressing energy issues.
It is a significant part of China's "three-stage" technology roadmap: "thermal neutron reactor, fast reactor, controllable nuclear fusion reactor" for nuclear power development. However, the first two technologies are linked to the concept of nuclear fission.
According to the long-term development goals set by China for the nuclear energy industry, the application of nuclear fusion energy should be realized by the middle of this century. Not a particularly ambitious time considering that other companies and countries have ambitions for commercial nuclear fusion by 2030.
Zhong Wulyu, director of the Fusion Science Center under CNNC's Southwest Institute of Physics, told the China Media Group (CMG) that "the Huanliu-3 (HL-3) team will further study the physics of plasma of frontier fusion, laying a solid foundation for China to carry out hot plasma experiments and build fusion reactors.
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The article China takes a historic step towards controlled nuclear fusion comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-compie-un-passo-avanti-storico-verso-la-fusione-nucleare-controllata/ on Sun, 27 Aug 2023 15:24:00 +0000.