China has achieved another milestone in developing its next-generation "artificial sun," as one of its key systems passed expert review and acceptance on Sunday, achieving an internationally advanced standard in development and operational capability.
The system, known as one-eighth vacuum chamber and overall installation system, was developed by the Institute of Plasma Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is one of the 19 key subsystems for Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT), also known as China' s next-generation "artificial sun." Designed as a testing platform for critical fusion reactor components, CRAFT is expected to be completed in 2025.
Resembling a giant orange slice, the newly approved system features a D-shaped cross-section with a double-layer shell, standing 20 meters tall. The vacuum chamber shell, made of ultra-low-carbon stainless steel, weighs 295 tons. In the future, eight of these "orange slices" will form a complete structure, housing plasma at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius.
LIU Zhihong, a lead scientist for the system, explained that the vacuum chamber serves as the closest nuclear safety barrier to the reactor core, requiring extreme precision in welding, structural integrity, and magnetic permeability.
The research team spent a decade overcoming technical challenges, securing more than 40 invention patents along the way.
"By completing the one-eighth vacuum chamber, we have fully mastered the critical technologies needed for the complete toroidal vacuum chamber of future fusion reactors," LIU said, adding that the system's technology has also been applied to particle accelerators, precision machinery, and electronics.
The ultimate goal of an artificial sun is to create nuclear fusion like the sun, providing humanity with an endless, clean energy source, and enabling space exploration beyond the solar system.
Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology reaches internationally advanced level.(Image by HFIPS)
Researchers and experts take photos in front of the one-eighth vacuum chamber and overall installation system (Image by HFIPS)