China has announced a milestone in the development of its next-generation “artificial sun”, marking another step towards harnessing controlled nuclear fusion.
For the first time, the Huanliu-3 (HL-3) tokamak reactor in Chengdu has achieved a plasma state with ion temperatures of 117 million degrees Celsius and electron temperatures of 160 million degrees, edging closer to the extreme conditions required to ignite fusion – the same process that powers the Sun, according to researchers.
A tokamak is a doughnut-shaped device that uses powerful magnetic fields to confine superheated plasma, where hydrogen atoms – typically deuterium and tritium – fuse into helium and release vast amounts of energy.
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