Image credit – National Research Council of Science & Technology
The world still relies heavily on fossil fuel for our energy needs, but given that fossil fuels are a finite resource, it means that eventually there will come a day when we will run out of it, not to mention the environmental implications of using them. This is why we have been looking for alternative sources of energy.
Fusion energy has been looked upon as being one of those alternatives, and it seems that we are making some impressive progress on that front. This is because over in Korea, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) managed to set a record by maintaining its fusion reactor at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit for a whopping 20 seconds.
Now, 20 seconds doesn’t seem particularly long, but in terms of fusion reactors, it is. This is because for the most part, all the tests that have been conducted in the past have typically lasted for not more than 10 seconds. In fact, KSTAR’s previous attempt in 2019 saw it last for 8 seconds.
KSTAR has a current goal of maintaining the reactor for as long as 5 minutes by 2025, so which it is still a long way to go, this is definitely a step in the right direction and further cements the possibility that maybe fusion energy is the way to go in the future.
Filed in . Read more about Science and Social Hit. Source: phys.org