Chase "artificial sun"! Kuafu, a large scientific device in China, makes its debut.

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Real_ for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, September 18 (Xinhua)-- in order to realize its dream of nuclear fusion energy, China is building a large scientific device called CRAFT. With the approach of the National Science Popularization Day, a reporter from Xinhua visited Kuafu, who is under construction.

"Kuafu" is named after the sun-chasing hero in ancient Chinese mythology, and its scientific name is "Fusion reactor mainframe critical system Integrated Research Facility (CRAFT)". It is a major national scientific and technological infrastructure project established during the 13th five-year Plan. Construction began in December 2018 and is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2025.

According to CTOnews.com, nuclear fusion is a reaction that takes place inside the sun and releases huge amounts of energy. If this reaction can be simulated on Earth, the human energy problem can be solved. China began to explore nuclear fusion energy in the 1970s, and has built a number of experimental devices such as "Oriental Super Ring (EAST)" and "China Ring", and made a number of great achievements.

China's independently developed EAST devices have more than 200 core technologies and nearly 2000 patents, bringing together the cutting-edge technologies of "ultra-high temperature", "ultra-low temperature", "ultra-high vacuum", "ultra-strong magnetic field" and "super current". On this basis, China Fusion Engineering Experimental reactor (CFETR), the next generation of "artificial sun" in China, has completed its engineering design, and the research on key technologies for the construction of CFETR is the main mission of Kuafu.

In Kuafu's lab, you can already see prototypes of some of the parts of CFETR. For example, a huge "orange petal", which is an important part of the future "artificial sun".