Context: China successfully powered up its “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor for the first time, marking a great advance in the country’s nuclear power research capabilities.

HL-2M Tokamak reactor

• The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device, and scientists hope that the device can potentially unlock a powerful clean energy source.
• It uses a powerful magnetic field to fuse hot plasma and can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius, approximately ten times hotter than the core of the sun.
• Located in Sichuan province, the reactor is often called an “artificial sun” on account of the enormous heat and power it produces.
• Chinese scientists have been working on developing smaller versions of the nuclear fusion reactor since 2006.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/china-turns-on-artificial-sun/article33253082.ece

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