Physicists have discovered an artificial source of clean nuclear energy. (Representational Image)
Physicists from South Korea have discovered an artificial source of clean nuclear energy by initiating a strong nuclear reaction that produced temperatures seven times higher than the Sun. This discovery of creating an “artificial Sun” represented a significant advance in their study, said a report from New York Post.
According to the 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 the KSTAR heating up to the extreme temperatures has been shared on YouTube by a page named Science Alert on Friday.
“Ion temperature shown in color over a period of 24 seconds, achieved by the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR),” reads the caption of the post.
According to the post, charge-exchange spectroscopy, ECE, TS and Mirnov coil signals are transformed into audible sound, so that one can diagnose the plasma through the sound.
The centre of the actual sun reaches temperatures of about 15 million degrees. The process of joining atomic nuclei observed in stars by the self-heating of materials in a plasma state is known as nuclear fusion. The study, which tries to duplicate the natural processes of the sun, is regarded as a milestone in this field, NY Post further said.
By the end of the year, the South Korean researchers want to sustain plasma temperatures more than 100 million degrees for 50 second and by 2026, they intend to achieve the same temperatures for 300 seconds.