South Korean scientists are taking nuclear fusion technology to new heights.<br />They've developed a so-called artificial sun that reached astonishing temperatures,...marking a milestone in the development of a workable fusion reactor.<br />Oh Soo-young has more. <br />In one-point-five seconds of sheer magnetic force,... South Korea's "artificial sun" reached record plasma temperatures,... seven times hotter than the actual sun,... taking us closer to a world that runs on unlimited green energy.<br />The K-Star tokamak, a magnetic fusion device at the National Fusion Research Institute,... sustained a plasma ion temperature of more than 100 million degrees Celsius for the first time in the world. <br />Tokamaks aim to create and harness energy from atomic fusion which occur in super-hot plasma,... replicating the natural process that powers the Sun -- billions of times a second.<br /><br />"A plasma ion temperature of at least 100 million degrees needs to be generated to smoothly run the nuclear fusion process. We've operated K-Star for 10 years, and we've now marked this milestone temperature for about 1.5 seconds, showing we've obtained the technology to maintain this temperature for longer durations hereafter."<br /><br />"The achievement comes as scientists around the world are looking to develop nuclear fusion devices, in order to create clean and sustainable sources of energy."<br /><br />Tokamaks are designed to create and control plasma from fuels like deuterium and tritium,... which are considered eco-friendly and readily available... as they're extracted from water and lithium,... and are carbon-free.<br />Also, nuclear fusion produces almost four million times more energy than burning fossil fuels,... for which they're seen as an ideal source of clean and affordable power for generations to come.<br />To explore the potential,... Korea's state-of-the-art fusion device has been part of global efforts to build the largest tokamak in the world,... called ITER.<br />With experiments set to begin in 2025, ITER's plasma temperature needs to reach at least 150 million Celsius,... for meaningful progress on developing commercial fusion reactors.<br />To contribute to this goal,... K-star developers hope that the Korean tokamak will be able to maintain the 100-million Celsius level for at least ten seconds by the end of this year.<br />Oh Soo-young, Arirang News. <br />
