China turns on ‘artificial sun’

What is the artificial sun?

• It is a nuclear fusion reactor in China.
• The nuclear reactor is expected to provide clean energy.
• The reactor is often called an “artificial sun” on account of the enormous heat and power it produces.
• The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device.

How does it work?

• It uses a powerful magnetic field to fuse hot plasma.
• It can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius, approximately ten times hotter than the core of the sun.
• The HL-2M Tokamak device is designed to replicate the nuclear fusion process that occurs naturally in the sun and stars to provide almost infinite clean energy.

What are the challenges?

• To achieve an ion temperature above 100 million degrees Celsius
• To contain the fusion within a limited space in the long term
• To provide a sufficiently high-density profile