China could produce a decade-long supply of electrical energy if the nuclear fusion reactor, or "artificial sun" they developed, received final government approval.
According to Professor Song Yuntao, one of the scientists in the development of this technology, the construction of a nuclear fusion reactor could be completed in the early 2030s if the Chinese Government provides its support.
The fusion technology is believed to be able to provide a clean energy supply by simulating the solar nuclear fusion process. Quoted from the South China Morning Post, the development of an artificial sun faces challenges because the engineering complexity is quite large, and international efforts to develop it have been delayed, and the costs are not cheap.
So far, the Chinese Government has asked scientists to make preparations for the China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR), including engineering design and building a large testing facility in the city of Hefei. But said Song, who is director of the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, the final approval was still pending.
The first source of electricity from the artificial Sun
CFETR wants to be the first facility to generate electricity by heat of fusion. This technology brings with it the challenge of controlling a very hot gas, hydrogen, with temperatures inside the reactors estimated to reach or exceed 100 million degrees Celsius.
In the first phase of operation, the artificial Sun is designed to produce the stable power output needed to generate 200 megawatts of electricity, about the size of a small coal-fired power plant.
In the course of its development, China's fusion reactor may not be the world's first. In the South of France, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is also under construction, which is expected to fire in 2025.
After experiencing several delays since its inception in 2007, ITER has become the most expensive international scientific project in history, costing the countries involved, including China, from USD 45 billion to USD 65 billion.
Song said China and other countries are supporting and following the progress of developing a fusion reactor in France while leveraging the know-how and technology developed for ITER to enhance its own made-in-China Solar project.
"The US proposes to generate electricity with pilot nuclear fusion power plants built by the government and private companies between 2035 and 2040. The UK proposes to commercialize nuclear fusion energy by 2040," Song said.
