The consortium of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) organization and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) agreed on assembly of the vacuum vessel of the world’s largest “artificial sun” fusion reactor on Feb 29.
The vacuum vessel, which looks like a donut, is divided into nine modules for easy installation. The installation is scheduled to be completed within 35 months.
A bird’s-eye view of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
ITER is an international major scientific engineering program with great scale and international impact that carries humanity’s wish for peaceful utilization of fusion energy.
Things grow depending on the light and heat released by the sun’s fusion. The ITER is a tokamak device that can generate great fusion energy, making it the world’s largest “artificial sun”. It was jointly launched by countries and regions including China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
The ITER program intends to simulate the fusion process of the sun and explore the commercial operation of the controllable nuclear fusion facility.
China joined the program in 2006 and has contributed to Chinese solutions and strengths.
The country has shouldered manufacturing of key components of the facility, including the magnet support, the magnet feeder and power source systems.
During its involvement in the ITER program, CNNC has acted as a main force in development of nuclear technology and nuclear power, making a Chinese contribution to human energy exploration.
Its long-term research and development of the nuclear fusion energy source has also promoted China's development in the field.
CNNC also played a key role in installing the core module of the facility.
A bird’s-eye view of the tokamak device [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Zhu Zeya)
