Tokamak-type thermonuclear reactors try to replicate the reactions that take place inside the stars in order to produce cheap and safe energy for all humanity. However, despite research being carried out since the middle of the last century, it has not yet been possible to make a controlled thermonuclear reaction economically profitable. A thermonuclear reaction is accompanied by heating the hydrogen atoms – deuterium and tritium isotopes – to the required temperatures and keeping the plasma in a magnetic trap long enough for thermonuclear fusion to occur.

How was it?

The EAST reactor, also called the “artificial sun,” reportedly operates on a cycle. Worked for 403 seconds uninterruptedHe broke his previous record of 101 seconds.

Unfortunately, that’s all the official information about this event. Sources do not explain in what mode the reactor operates and to what temperature the plasma is heated, and what is important, what kind of plasma it is – electronic or, again, the basic ion.

Based on comparison with the previous experiment, it could be about heating electrons in the plasma to 120 million degrees Celsius. To start a thermonuclear fusion reaction in a plasma reactor, it is not electrons that need to be heated to a temperature of more than 100 million degrees, but ions – they are heavier than electrons, so almost twice as much energy is needed. warm them up.