CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN: EAST – UPSC Daily Important Topic | 5 October 2021

China’s Experimental Advanced super condition Tokamak(EAST) achieved a peak temperature of 288 million degrees Fahrenheit, which is over ten times hotter than the sun.

The EAST reactor is an advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device located at the Institute of Plasma physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) in Hefei, China.

East first became operational in 2006.

The purpose of the artificial sun is to replicate the process of nuclear fusion, which is the same reaction that powers the sun.

It is significant as far as China’s Green Development is concerned.

Nuclear fusion is a process through which high levels of energy are produced without generating large quantities of waste unlike fission, fission also does not emit greenhouse gases and is considered a safer process with a lower risk of accidents.