Tokyo, 2 Dec (Xinhua) -- A large-scale nuclear fusion experimental facility jointly built by Japan and the European Union and located in Naka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, began operation on 1 December, taking another step toward realizing an "artificial sun."
On the afternoon of the 1st, the Naka Research Institute of Japan's quantum science and technology research and development institute held a commemorative ceremony to commemorate the start of operation of the large-scale nuclear fusion experimental device JT-60SA. Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahito Moriyama, European Commission Commissioner for Energy Affairs Kadli Simsson, and other relevant figures from Japan and Europe attended the ceremony. As the button in the control chamber is pressed, an ultra-high temperature plasma is generated in the unit within a matter of seconds.
According to the Institute for Quantum Science and Technology Research and Development, the JT-60SA is currently the world's largest superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion reactor, and the plasma necessary for nuclear fusion was produced for the first time during the test operation on October 23. Nuclear fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine into one heavier nucleus and release a huge amount of energy, and nuclear fusion can theoretically provide a near-infinite amount of energy.
The JT-60SA program is a precursor to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Program (ITER), also known as the "Artificial Sun" program, and its results will be reflected in the ITER and will be used in the construction of future nuclear fusion prototype reactors.