A South Korea-based research and development team has set a world record with KSTAR, a superheating system known as artificial solar technology. KSTAR reached 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds. This is an important milestone for artificial solar technology and could play an important role in future energy production. Nuclear fusion is expected to be a clean energy source that can replace conventional energy sources that cause global warming.
The KSTAR (Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) artificial solar system has achieved an important world record in the field of nuclear fusion technology. KSTAR managed to operate over 100 million degrees Celsius for more than 20 seconds. This means that KSTAR has made significant progress, having been observed to operate for only 1.5 seconds in previous experiments. This achievement allows advances to be made in the field of nuclear fusion technology and its use in future power generation.
KSTAR Reaches Seven Times the Temperature of the Sun
Developed by scientists at Seoul National University, KSTAR achieved an ion temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius, reaching seven times the temperature of the Sun. However, this temperature lasted only 30 seconds. This feat shows that the reaction takes only seconds, compared to the Sun, which has lasted for 4.6 billion years. However, the KSTAR reactor is not the only nuclear reactor capable of reaching a fusion temperature of 100 degrees. For example, the plasma temperature of a nuclear reactor in China, called EAST or HL-2M Tokamak, reached 120 million degrees Celsius in May 2021, breaking a world record. Also, the device was able to maintain this high temperature for 101 seconds.
KSTAR, the nuclear fusion reactor, uses magnetic fields to create an ultra-hot plasma and keep it stable. Nuclear fusion is defined as the formation of a heavier element by combining two light elements as a result of nuclear reactions. This process is known as the energy source of the Sun and other stars and is tried to be animated in laboratories.
The KSTAR reactor has already surpassed the Sun, whose temperature is 15 million degrees. However, the fusion time that takes place in the reactor takes only seconds, compared to the Sun, which takes the nuclear fusion process 4.6 billion years. Therefore, longer-term energy production is required for nuclear fusion to be used as an energy source. However, experts consider preserving the plasma for 30 seconds in the reactor as an important advance. Because longer-term plasma preservation is important to ensure the longer-term energy production required for nuclear fusion to be used as an energy source.
The KSTAR reactor was shut down after past experiments. Scientists are currently replacing the inner walls of the reactor with tungsten from carbon components. Tungsten is a very hard and heavy metal type and can be steel gray or white in color. These changes are being made to enable longer-term energy production in future experiments.
