The story of Kuafu chasing the sun lives on in China's EAST project, where scientists strive to harness the power of nuclear fusion, lighting the way toward a sustainable energy future. (Xinhua)
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have helped design and test a component that could improve the performance of doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks. Called a "liquid lithium limiter," the device has circulated the protective liquid metal within the walls of China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) and kept the plasma from cooling down and halting fusion reactions.
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.