This breakthrough occurred during tests conducted from December 2023 to February 2024. Researchers successfully maintained scorching heat of 100 million degrees Celsius for 48 seconds. By comparison, the heart of our Sun burns at a relatively cold temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius.
Reaching KSTAR is not just limited to temperature. The reactor also maintained a critical state known as “high containment mode” (H mode) for more than 100 seconds. H mode refers to a stable plasma environment in which particles are effectively trapped, maximizing the efficiency of fusion reactions. This result builds on KSTAR’s past achievements, such as the 2021 record of keeping superhot plasma at one million degrees for 30 seconds.
The path to sustainable fusion, the process that powers stars, involves replicating the immense heat and pressure conditions in stellar cores. Nuclear fusion holds tremendous promise as a clean, nearly unlimited source of energy, often referred to as the “Holy Grail” of clean energy.
The key to KSTAR’s recent victory lies in a component called the tungsten deflector. Located at the bottom of the reactor chamber, this element plays a vital role. It removes waste gases and impurities from the reactor while withstanding extreme thermal loads. The KSTAR team recently replaced the previous carbon director with tungsten, the element with the highest melting point of any metal.
Source: Ferra
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