China is making a breakthrough in the field of nuclear energy with the development of its Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), also known as the Chinese artificial sun. This project, led in Hefei by the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, marks a significant step towards achieving clean, nearly unlimited energy.

Launched in 2006, EAST is the first tokamak utilizing superconducting toroidal and poloidal magnets, aiming to sustain plasma pulses for up to 1000 seconds. This advanced reactor is a vital part of the global ITER project, involving 35 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, India, and all European Union member states.

As a key participant in the ITER consortium, China uses EAST as an experimental testbed for ITER technologies. The EAST project was proposed in 1996 and approved in 1998, with the first plasma achieved in 2006. The project's cost was around 300 million yuan (about 37 million US dollars), a fraction of the costs for comparable reactors in other countries.

The latest achievements in the project include maintaining superheated plasma at a level of 126 million degrees Fahrenheit for a record-breaking 17 minutes, about five times hotter than the core of the Sun. In 2021, the Chinese tokamak sustained plasma operation at a temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds. This accomplishment is a crucial step towards the sustainable and stable production of energy through nuclear fusion.

Nuclear fusion, the process of generating energy by fusing atomic nuclei, is considered the cleanest and safest form of energy, leaving no radioactive waste. Unlike current energy sources such as coal and natural gas, nuclear fusion has the potential to become an almost inexhaustible energy source.

The challenge in realizing this project is maintaining plasma at extremely high temperatures without leakage. Despite over 70 years of research, an experimental tokamak reactor that produces more energy than it consumes has never been created. However, China's successes with EAST indicate that scientists are approaching the achievement of this goal.

China's artificial sun represents a significant step towards a sustainable future for the world's energy. This project not only demonstrates technological advancement but also illustrates that global collaboration can bring significant benefits in terms of clean energy and environmental protection.