Chinese scientists have developed its own artificial sun that will use nuclear fusion to generate clean energy as much as 10 suns. Xinhua News reported that China completed the construction of this reactor recently and they are expecting to start the operation from 2020. The incredible structure will be capable of reaching 200 million degrees Celcius
The actual name of China’s artificial sun isn’t that poetic. It’s called the HL-2M, and it was built by the China National Nuclear Corporation and the Southwestern Institute of Physics. The reactor is located in Leshan, Sichuan province, where it was built to research fusion technology.
The HL-2M will be able to reach 200 million degrees Celsius (360 million degrees Fahrenheit). By comparison, the Sun “only” gets as hot as 15 million degrees Celsius (27 million degrees Fahrenheit) in its core.
The structure of the artificial sun in China looks very similar to a doughnut and the chamber is known as a ‘tokamak’. The HL-2M uses hydrogen and deuterium gas as fuel to stimulate the fusion reaction by injecting them into the device and producing plasma.
This project is a part of China’s participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) which is based in France. The ITER is the world’s largest nuclear fusion project that amounts to a whopping 20 billion Euros. Apart from China, 34 other countries are also participating in it, which is expected to complete in 2025.
If nuclear fusion can be harnessed using a low-energy method, it could allow for the creation of “unlimited” clean energy.
Sources: South China Morning Post, International Bussiness Times,
What would happen if the artificial sun were 2 explode how dangerous would it be?
“100million degrees Celcius”
🤪
It’s new to me!
Are these Chinese degrees?
This temperature is more or less, as number, respect the …well known Celsius?!
So will be 100 or 200 million °C?
You have typed both, could you please verify it and do not give us random numbers?
Hi Claudio! It will be 200 million degrees, sorry for the technical mistake!
As an add on: Another research hotspot for nuclear fusion in China is Hefei, Anhui province, where the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) is based. That device has managed to reach the 100 million degrees mark.
Thank you for reading us,
TBM team
Buncha Bull!
Wow! That is incredible if it works! Just how is the plasma contained due to these extreme temperatures? What are the risks of this project ???? (Massive explosion ? Ignite atmosphere? Etc )
if this make a mistake on operation maybe it could wipe out whole china?
So if the sun is a distance a way and still it’s heat can be felt, how harmful can a much hotter substance on the Earth’s surface be.
And with this form of radiation, I think its explosion will be the cause of Earth’s extinction.
And here we are in Houston building copious amounts of freeways. This country will get caught behind before we know it!