The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research or KSTAR — a superconducting fusion device— is key to the 2020 KSTAR Plasma Campaign.
Matching the race for nuclear fusion first seen in China and other countries across the European region, the KSTAR is built to mimic and recreate the sun’s fusion reactions on Earth.
Basically, the researchers will hold the power of the sun in the palm of their hands.
Up until today, no other fusion device has been capable of maintaining temperatures of 100 million degrees or higher for 10 seconds or more.
Si-Woo Yoon, director of the KSTAR Research Center at the KFE explained to Phys.org:
“The technologies required for long operations of 100 million plasma are the key to the realization of fusion energy, and the KSTAR’s success in maintaining the high-temperature plasma for 20 seconds will be an important turning point in the race for securing the technologies for the long high-performance plasma operation, a critical component of a commercial nuclear fusion reactor in the future.point 528 |
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Yong-Su Na, professor at the Department of Nuclear Engineering, SNU, has teamed with the KFE on the KSTAR plasma operation, adding:
“The success of the KSTAR experiment in the long, high-temperature operation by overcoming some drawbacks of the ITB modes brings us a step closer to the development of technologies for the realization of nuclear fusion energy.”
The KSTAR’s accomplishments and findings will be shared with the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in May next year, with a goal of 100 million degrees for 300 seconds by the year 2025.