China is aggressively entering a new space. They built the world’s first new type of tokamak

Although the industry is currently focused on building new wind farms and photovoltaic installations, extensive work is underway in many places around the world to perfect thermonuclear fusion, the same process that generates energy inside the sun. Unlike wind and solar radiation, nuclear fusion can generate power continuously under controlled conditions, regardless of any weather conditions. However, in the absence of wind, turbines do not generate electricity. Just like photovoltaic panels, they do not generate electricity at night or during heavy cloud cover.

One company working to solve this problem is the Chinese company Energy Singularity. According to Chinese media reportsthe company has just built the world’s first tokamak using high-temperature superconductivity.

The device, which was manufactured in Shanghai, was given the simple name HH70. Although the name may not be very impressive, with tokamaks alone China could revolutionize the market for completely clean energy generated in the process of thermonuclear fusion.

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It is worth noting here that humans also have clean energy at their disposal (meaning it does not emit carbon dioxide) coming from the process of nuclear fission. Unfortunately, the use of this type of reactor generates large amounts of nuclear waste and, in theory, there is a risk of contaminating large areas in the event of a major accident. Nuclear fusion, i.e. the opposite of nuclear fission, does not entail such a risk.

In the process of thermonuclear fusion, hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms, releasing massive amounts of clean energy. This process occurs in the core of the Sun, under conditions of incredibly high temperature and pressure. Scientists at the tokamak are trying to recreate conditions there by generating plasma made of hydrogen ions and electrons. This plasma is placed in a donut-shaped chamber and controlled by a magnetic field. The biggest challenge facing scientists is to raise the temperature of the plasma to that found inside the Sun. The energy generated under such conditions must be greater than the amount of energy supplied to the system in order to maintain the plasma under the appropriate conditions. In the past few years, scientists have been able to obtain small amounts of net energy by keeping the plasma under control for first a few seconds, then a few minutes.

Tokamak HH70 can bring us closer to an inexhaustible source of energy.

As CGTN reported, the device developed by Energy Singularity is much smaller and cheaper to build than a classic tokamak. Its advantage is that it is made of REBCO, a high-temperature superconducting material composed of copper oxide, barium and rare earth metals. This material can be produced in large quantities, which in turn significantly reduces its price.

Moreover, the use of this particular material means, according to company representatives, that the entire tokamak can be several times smaller than a conventional device of this type. Scientists argue that REBCO tokamak takes only 2 percent. The size of a traditional tokamak.

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Can this device provide us with the right amount of energy? This is not yet fully known. So far, the most efficient tokamak has been able to generate 53 percent more power. More power than is supplied to the system. Representatives of Energy Singularity argue that the tokamak they have developed will eventually generate ten times more energy than is needed to operate it.

So when can we expect the energy revolution? We can definitely say that this moment is fast approaching. However, for now, Energy Singularity plans to build the next generation tokamak within the next three years, and the technology is expected to be demonstrated before the end of the decade.