They can't do that! The sun is Japan's thing!

2006-01-23

They can't do that! The sun is Japan's thing!

China to build world's first "artificial sun" experimental device.

A full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, which aims to generate infinite, clean nuclear-fusion-based energy, will be built in March or April in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province.
Experiments with the advanced new device will start in July or August. If the experiments prove successful, China will become the first country in the world to build a full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, nicknamed "artificial sun", experts here said.

Also, China will have created a source of infinite, clean energy. Just as a side issue, y'know.

Popularity factor: 3

IbaDaiRon:

Right. NICE bit of propaganda, but there's no such thing as a free lunch.

I wonder if we'll be able to see the fireball from this far east....

Anonymous:

It's always nice to hear about new fusion research - if China's serious about this, perhaps it will help ITER move closer to becoming a reality. But I'm not sure what first is really being claimed here. According to the article, they already have a smaller superconducting tokamak, and it doesn't sound like they're expecting to achieve break-even in this thing. I guess the idea is that this'll be the first fully superconducting one. I'll have to look into it, though.

No fireball - one of the advantages of fusion is that you can't get a self-sustaining runaway reaction like in fission. You have to keep pumping in energy to keep it at the necessary temperature and pressure - if it breaches containment, it very rapidly cools down and stops reacting.

Japan has JT-60, you know, which is one of the big three tokamaks so far, with TFTR and JET. I visited JET once. Saw START at the same time.

IbaDaiRon:

My hyperbole obviously wasn't self-sustaining, either. Didn't even spark, evidently. :)

You have to keep pumping in energy

Like I wrote, NFL.

This would seem to be a continuation of a line of prop that started a few months back with their "moon race" announcement. CNN (ahem) has been doing a lot of reporting on a new Chinese threat to US technological preeminence. Hmmm...

2006-01-23