The US and the West can't sit still! China's nuclear fusion technology has made a major breakthrough and may be able to generate electricity by 2028?

Under the "double carbon" policy of peak CO2 emissions and carbon neutrality, countries have started to look for clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

After several years of research and adaptation, it became clear that most of the new energy sources had more or less the same problems and could not replace fossil fuels. Only electricity could barely have the strength to do so.

As a result, nuclear power generation, with its superior low emissions and cleanliness, has become a new form of power generation sought after by many major countries.

Forms of nuclear energy: nuclear fission and nuclear fusion

It is worth noting, however, that the nature of nuclear power generation is now somewhat similar to that of thermal power generation.

Firstly, both types of power generation are carried out in large power stations and fuel furnaces, i.e. nuclear and thermal power stations, as well as nuclear and coal-fuelled furnaces.

In addition, both burn fuel, thereby generating heat to turn water into steam, which is allowed to drive turbines in generators to produce electricity.

In simple terms, nuclear power stations generate electricity by burning water, just like thermal power stations.

But while the two are only similar in their power generation principles, the process and consumption of power generation are very different.

This is because nuclear power stations are fuelled by nuclear energy, which means that they rely on nuclear reactors to generate heat. In scientific terms, this means that nuclear fuel made from uranium is fissioned in a 'reactor' facility to produce large amounts of heat.

This mode of converting nuclear energy to heat allows nuclear power plants to be free of carbon emissions, as they do not need to burn coal to produce heat, as is the case with thermal power plants.

However, as extremely advanced as nuclear fission power generation sounds, there is a fabled mode of application above it, and that is nuclear fusion.

As mentioned earlier, nuclear fission reactions are currently used in nuclear reactors in nuclear power plants.

The essence of fission for electricity generation is to use neutrons to hit uranium atoms, causing them to release neutrons which then hit other atoms, thus creating a chain reaction and releasing a huge amount of energy.

Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, involves the aggregation of smaller masses of atoms into heavier atoms, releasing huge amounts of energy at random as the nucleus changes.

From this perspective, you might think that the two applications of nuclear energy are only the opposite in form. If humans can achieve nuclear fission, they can naturally achieve nuclear fusion as well.

However, this is not the case. Nuclear fusion is dozens or even hundreds of times more difficult than nuclear fission.

Because nuclear fission presupposes the right pressure, which most major countries can achieve, nuclear fusion presupposes ultra-high temperatures and pressures.

How "high" should this "ultra-high pressure" and "ultra-high temperature" be? Simply put, it has to be like the sun.

After all, the sun can have such energy because it is constantly undergoing nuclear fusion reactions. So, to accomplish nuclear fusion, the essence is to create an "artificial sun", which is the best expression of "difficult to achieve".

China's breakthrough in nuclear energy: nuclear fusion for power generation

But "harder than green" means "difficult", not "impossible".

In September 2022, the Chinese newspaper South China Morning Post broke a shocking story:

"China's top scientist says fusion power is only six years away".

The "top scientist" was known as Peng Xianjue, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and one of the main designers of the new hydrogen bomb weapon.

It is worth mentioning that the hydrogen bomb is only a model of a nuclear fusion weapon. Thus, it seems that Academician Peng Xianjue has a considerable voice in the field of nuclear fusion, which confirms the authority of the report from the side.

In addition, in his report, Academician Peng Xianjue also revealed that the Chinese government has approved the construction of the world's largest pulse drive and plans to use fusion energy to generate electricity on the grid by 2028.

This means that the aforementioned "six years" does not mean the birth of fusion power, but the implementation of fusion power, which is undoubtedly a 100-year innovation for the Chinese power industry.

However, according to some basic information released so far, the fusion power plant to be built this time will not be entirely powered by nuclear fusion.

Generally speaking, electricity generation in nuclear power plants is made up of nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. The plant will achieve this feat through a hybrid fusion reactor called Z-FFR.

The reaction mode of this hybrid fusion reactor is also interesting in that the nuclear fuel is first subjected to controlled small-scale fusion and then allowed to start fissioning after the neutron energy fusion has been increased.

In this "fusion and fission" process, the nuclear power plant not only gains power generation but also increases the utilization of nuclear energy.

Moreover, the entire chain reaction is based on fusion, so that if a hybrid fusion reactor goes out of control, the entire hybrid reaction can be stopped by cutting off the high pressure and temperature of fusion, rather than the unlimited radiation of nuclear fission.

Hybrid power generation: Although technically lacking, it is of great significance.

However, in the face of this so-called hybrid reactor, some may ask: why not all fusion?

When faced with this question, Academician Peng Xianjue's answer is also clear. Current ignition technology is still unable to support 100% fusion.

As mentioned earlier, nuclear fusion requires ultra-high pressure and ultra-high temperature, and if a continuous reaction is required, this "double super" state must be maintained at all times.

This requires a corresponding ignition device, like the spark plug in a car engine, which needs to support the reaction all the way through.

There are currently only two types of ignition devices in the world: laser ignition and magnetically-confined plasma fusion.

The principle of laser ignition is similar to that of a car spark plug, in that it uses the auroral output of a high-frequency pulse to ignite the fusion fuel core block. But since it is a high-frequency pulse, it needs to be supported by extremely high capacitance, which is not yet available, making laser ignition simply not possible.

On the other hand, magnetically confined plasma fusion uses a magnetic field to regulate fusion. It sounds simple enough, and research has been done, but when it comes to practical applications, it is still "out of reach".

So hybrid nuclear power generation is now at the top of the human scale, with at least 5% of fusion reactions taking place.

Although this is a small percentage, it is a significant first step for mankind in fusion power generation.

It is only with this 5% that the potential of nuclear fusion for power generation has been seen, especially in this "fusion and division" mode, which is a leap forward in the utility of nuclear energy.

In addition, the further development of nuclear fusion may even enable nuclear power generation to gradually escape the fate of "boiling water".

As mentioned earlier, once nuclear fusion has been completed and landed, it will be an artificial sun. By that time, mankind would already be able to use solar panels to generate electricity, allowing nuclear fusion to be applied to spacecraft to provide a continuous source of energy.

Meanwhile, nuclear fusion (artificial suns), once used in space, could even allow humans to establish an Earth-like ecosystem in space, ushering in a vast era of cosmic colonization.

Excitingly, it all reads like science fiction. It is a source of pride for China that the Chinese have now taken the first step instead of the Earth.