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Original title: A new generation of artificial sun “made in Sichuan”, nuclear fusion device is unloaded in Sichuan
Source: Sichuan Daily
At 14:02 on December 4, the China Circulator No. 2 M (HL-2M) device was completed in Chengdu and made its first discharge, Photo by reporter Hao Fei.
About nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion polymerizes deuterium and tritium ions into helium, and the mass lost during polymerization is converted into super energy. This is the same principle of luminescence and solar heating, so the controllable nuclear fusion research device is also called “artificial sun”
The mysterious HL-2M device
● Project establishment date: In November 2009, the National Atomic Energy Agency approved the project and the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology was responsible for construction. The total investment approved was nearly 400 million yuan.
● Highest parameters: advanced plasma current capacity increases to more than 2.5 megaamperes; the temperature of plasma ions can reach 150 million degrees Celsius.
● Importance: It is an important supporting device to achieve the breakthrough in the development of China’s nuclear fusion power development business.
At 14:02 on December 4, Chengdu, Shuangliu, China National Nuclear Corporation Southwest Physics Institute of Nuclear Industry (hereinafter “Nuclear Institute of Science and Technology”) on the big screen of the Control and China Circulator Knob, an electric light flashed, a little pause It’s a …
A series of blue electric lights means that China’s independent design and construction of a new generation of “artificial sun”: China’s Circulator No. 2M (HL-2M) device was officially completed and made the first discharge, and China officially entered the global controllable nuclear fusion research Close-up.
From the nursery rhyme “Planting the Sun” to the movie “The Wandering Earth”, the nuclear fusion “planetary engine” that propels the earth to escape from the solar system, to obtain nuclear fusion energy on earth is the dream of the scientists. And the new generation of “artificial sun” discharges, which means another step towards sleep.
“Nuclear fusion polymerizes deuterium and tritium ions into helium, and the mass lost during polymerization is converted into super energy. This is the same principle as solar luminescence heating, so the controllable nuclear fusion research device is also used. called the ‘artificial sun’ “. Xu Min, director of the Institute of Fusion Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “HL-2M is the largest and tallest ‘artificial sun’ in China.”
Scientists have reached a consensus that if nuclear fusion can be achieved on Earth, the energy problem for human survival can be solved once and for all. The principle seems simple, but it is difficult to keep the fusion reaction under control.
Xu Min introduced that the conditions to perform a controllable nuclear fusion reaction are very harsh: first, the temperature must be high enough to convert the fuel into a plasma of more than 100 million degrees Celsius; second, the density must be high enough, at 1 trillion per cubic meter. 100 million particles, so the probability of collision between two nuclei is great; third, the plasma must be confined for a sufficient time in a limited space.
Scientists use a strong magnetic field to confine the hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius plasma in the vessel to make the fusion reaction run steadily and continuously.
As early as the 1950s, China began nuclear fusion research. After many iterations, the new generation of the “artificial sun” device -HL-2M was approved by the National Atomic Energy Agency in November 2009, and the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology was responsible for the construction, with a total investment approved of nearly 400 million yuan.
“As a new generation of advanced magnetic confinement nuclear fusion experimental research equipment in China, HL-2M adopts more advanced structure and control methods.” According to Yang Qingwei, chief engineer of the Fusion Science Institute of the Western Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, the plasma current capacity has been increased to 2.5 megaamps. The temperature of plasma ions can reach 150 million degrees centigrade, which is an important supporting device to realize the large-scale development of China’s nuclear fusion power development.
During the construction of the HL-2M device, various research and development units within the United Nations Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology have made many advances in the physics and structural design of devices, the development of special materials, the connection of materials and key component research and development, and final assembly integration.
With the construction of the HL-2M device as traction, special materials, key equipment, precision manufacturing in extreme conditions and other key technologies mastered by the Nuclear West Institute have formed a “synchrotron radiation” effect, achieving innovative applications. in cutting edge fields such as aviation, aerospace and electronics.
According to reports, in China’s nuclear power development and implementation of the three-step strategy “thermal reactor-fast reactor-fusion reactor”, fusion power is the final step to solve the energy problem.
Currently, the National Atomic Energy Agency is studying the design of an integrated nuclear fusion research and innovation system, creating a nationwide nuclear fusion innovation research platform, a platform for exchanges between national experts and academics, and foreigners, and a growth platform for young scientists to comprehensively promote China’s nuclear fusion industry to advance from the leadership. (Reporter Xu Lisha)
