South Korean physicists create ‘artificial sun’ to get clean nuclear energy: Report

Physicists have discovered an artificial source of clean nuclear energy. (Representative image)

Physicists from South Korea have discovered an artificial source of clean nuclear energy by setting off a powerful nuclear reaction that produced temperatures seven times higher than the Sun. This discovery of creating an “artificial sun” represented a significant advance in their research, a report said New York Post.

According to scientists from Seoul National University and the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) reactor reached temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius for about 30 seconds, reaching this milestone for the very first time, the outlet further said.

A video of KSTAR heating up to the extreme temperatures has been shared on YouTube by a site called Science Alert on Friday.

“Ion temperature shown in color over a period of 24 seconds, obtained by Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR),” reads the caption of the post.

According to the posting, charge exchange spectroscopy, ECE, TS and Mirnov coil signals are converted into audible sound so that the plasma can be diagnosed through the sound.

The center of the sun itself reaches temperatures of about 15 million degrees. The process of joining atomic nuclei observed in stars by self-heating of materials in a plasma state is known as nuclear fusion. The study, which attempts to replicate the sun’s natural processes, is considered a milestone in this field, NEW Mail further said.

By the end of the year, the South Korean researchers want to maintain plasma temperatures of more than 100 million degrees for 50 seconds, and in 2026 they intend to achieve the same temperatures for 300 seconds.