中國啓動了比太陽熱5倍的核聚變裝置

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

The artificial sun (source: BGR)

China switched on its nuclear fusion device that’s 5 times hotter than the Sun

BGR - Joshua Hawkins

Tue, January 11, 2022, 10:25 AM

Last week, China switched on a nuclear fusion reactor. The “artificial sun” is known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (or EAST for short). After turning it on, China noticed record high levels for sustained temperatures. According to China’s state media, the EAST reactor ran five times hotter than the real Sun for over 17 minutes.

China’s artificial sun is a bid for clean energy

China says its overall goal with the nuclear fusion reactor is to provide near limitless clean energy. The hope is that the reactor can mimic the natural reactions that occur within stars like the Sun. The idea is one that has been proposed for years. However, creating a working artificial sun has proven to be difficult, despite decades of research. This latest run, though, could help China break through the walls that have been holding back researchers for years.

“The recent operation lays a solid scientific and experimental foundation towards the running of a fusion reactor,” Gong Xianzu, one of the experiment’s leaders and a researcher with the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said (via The Independent).

If China can continue work on its artificial sun, we could see more breakthroughs in the future. 17 minutes might not sound like long, but when you have something running at more than 70,000,000° C for that long, it’s pretty impressive, to say the least. Previously we've also seen other artificial suns reach upwards of 100 million degrees, another record level.

How nuclear fusion works

The idea behind nuclear fusion reactors isn’t exactly easy. The entire basis of the idea is built on replicating the physics of the actual Sun. Artificial suns do this by merging atomic nuclei together to generate massive amounts of energy. Researchers are then trying to find ways to transfer all of that energy into electricity. There’s probably a lot more math involved in the actual process, but that’s the basic gist of what scientists are trying to accomplish.

Because artificial suns don’t require any fossil fuels to run, and they also leave behind no hazardous waste, physicists say there is far less risk to the environment. This is especially true when you compare it to other energy sources out there, like nuclear fission reactors.

China isn’t the only country working on creating an artificial sun, either. As mentioned before, the research into the idea has been ongoing for decades at this point. The same team from China’s reactor will also work with a team in Marseille, France. Once completed, the artificial sun in Marseille will be the world’s largest reactor. It’s known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The United Kingdom also has plans to build its own nuclear fusion power station.

Onlookers were amazed by it

When it debuted, some people in China went outside to see it. It glowed in the sky, as you can see in this video viewed all over Twitter. China looks to change the future of energy.

Translation

上週，中國啟動了一座核聚變反應堆。 “人造太陽” 是 Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak（或簡稱 EAST）。中國啓動它後，注意到創歷史新高的持續溫度。據中國官方媒體報導，EAST 反應堆在真實太陽溫度的 5 倍運行超過17 分鐘。

中國的人造太陽是清潔能源的競標出價

中國表示其核聚變反應堆的總體目標是提供近乎無限的清潔能源。希望該反應堆可以模仿太陽等恆星內部發生的自然反應。這個想法已經提出了多年。然而，儘管進行了數十年的研究，但事實證明，創造一個有效的人造太陽是很困難的。不過，這次最新的運作可以幫助中國突破多年來一直阻礙研究人員的圍牆。

中科院等離子體物理研究所的實驗負責人之一研究員龔先祖（透過 The Independent）說: “最近的操作為聚變反應堆的運行奠定了堅實的科學和實驗基礎” 。

如果中國能夠繼續研究人造太陽，我們將來會看到更多的突破。 17 分鐘可能聽起來並不長，但是當你有一個東西在超過 70,000,000°C 的溫度中運行這麼長時間時，至少可以說是相當令人印象深刻的。此前，我們還看到其他人造太陽達到 1 億度以上，這是另一個創紀錄的水平。

核聚變的運作原理

核聚變反應堆背後的想法並不容易。這個想法的整個基礎是建立在複製實際太陽的物理之上。人造太陽通過將原子核合併在一起產生大量能量來做到這一點。然後，研究人員正試圖找到將所有這些能量轉化為電能的方法。實際過程中可能涉及更多數學，但這是科學家試圖完成的基本要點。

由於人造太陽不需要任何化石燃料來運行，而且它們也不會留下危險廢物，物理學家說對環境的風險要小得多。尤其是當您將它比較其他能源,如核裂變反應。

中國也不是唯一一個致力於製造人造太陽的國家。如前所述，這個想法的研究已經持續了幾十年。來自中國反應堆的同一團隊還將與法國馬賽的一個團隊合作。一旦完成，馬賽的人造太陽將成為世界上最大的反應堆。它被稱為國際熱核實驗反應堆（ITER）。英國亦計劃建造自己的核聚變電站。

圍觀者為之驚嘆

當它首次被啟動時，在中國有一些人就到外面去看看。它在天空中發光，正如你在 Twitter 上觀看的這段視頻中看到的那樣。中國希望改變能源的未來。

       So, China switches on a nuclear fusion reactor, creating an “artificial sun "through a set up that could merge atomic nuclei together and is known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (or EAST for short). The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power. The next hurdle for researchers is to find a way to transfer all of that energy into electricity.

Notes:

1. A tokamak is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power. As of 2021, it is the leading candidate for a practical fusion reactor. By the mid-1970s, dozens of tokamaks were in use around the world. As of 2020, JET (the Joint European Torus) remains the record holder for fusion output, reaching 16 MW of output for 24 MW of input heating power. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak)

2. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), internal designation HT-7U (Hefei Tokamak 7 Upgrade), is an experimental superconducting tokamak magnetic fusion energy reactor in Hefei, China. The Hefei Institutes of Physical Science is conducting the experiment for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It becomes operational since 2006. (https://en.wikipedia.org/)