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Not long ago, we reported on the extraordinary feat of nuclear fusion in the tokamak jet, in which the Poles also took part. However, a lot is also happening in Asia, especially in South Korea, which has set itself the bold goal of launching an “artificial sun” power plant by 2050. And, as the latest achievement shows, it is on its way to achieving that goal. Make it happen. The KSTAR team has just set a new fusion temperature record.
Korean fusion reactor KSTAR
7 times hotter than the sun
Korean researchers achieved temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius in tests. This is seven times higher than the temperature in the core of a star in our solar system – the temperature there is about 15 million degrees Celsius. But from the scientists' point of view, what is even more important is that these conditions are maintained for the entire 48 seconds. Furthermore, the reactor maintained a stable plasma state in H mode for more than 100 s, which is important in the context of subsequent use in commercial reactors.
Suk Jae-yoo, head of the Korea Fusion Energy Institute, announced that the research gives the green light to develop the basic technologies needed to build “experimental reactors” that will be future experimental plants.
What is nuclear fusion?
Fusion is similar to the process that generates light and heat from stars. It involves combining isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, converting them into heavier helium, and releasing enormous energy that experts in the field hope to use to generate unlimited electricity with zero emissions of harmful byproducts.
Nuclear fusion
However, nuclear fusion requires huge amounts of energy to propel particles that would normally repel each other. Hence the necessity of maintaining a tremendous temperature.
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