Chinese scientists set global record with artificial sun

Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak in Hefei, East China's Anhui province. [Photo/CCTV.com]

Chinese scientists have successfully operated an experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor to achieve high-confinement plasma for more than 100 seconds, a new record length of time in the world.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, has been dubbed as artificial sun since it replicates the energy-generating process of the sun.

In the latest experiment, the facility created steady-state high-constrained plasma-emitting for 101.2 seconds under a temperature of 50 million C. The facility set the record time of 60 seconds in November.

The achievement is expected to improve the development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the largest international program dedicated to thermonuclear fusion experiments.

China independently designed and constructed the EAST in 2006. The facility is 11 meters tall, with a diameter of 8 meters, and a weight of 400 tons. It is run by the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei. In 2012, its tungsten diverters and auxiliary heating system were upgraded.