Take a sneak peek at the majestic figure of “Kuafu” and look forward to the feat of “chasing the sun” in the future!

The sun is the source of life and the symbol of light. Today, humans want to create a "sun" on Earth to ensure inexhaustible energy, clear water and blue sky, and sustainable life.

The Chinese large scientific facility "Kuafu" (CRAFT) under construction is the "engine" for the development of the future "artificial sun". Its scientific name is "Comprehensive Research Facility for Key Systems of Fusion Reactor Host (CRAFT)".

The place where nuclear fusion reactions will occur in the future is actually a vacuum ring-shaped container. If the dream of fusion energy is realized, then mankind will have an ideal energy source that is almost infinite, clean, and safe, which will greatly improve the quality of human life and solve a series of global problems such as energy, climate, and environment.

CRAFT is a major national science and technology infrastructure project approved in the 13th Five-Year Plan. It was approved for construction in December 2018 and is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2025. Since its start, it has successfully developed the world's largest superconducting magnet system and achieved the longest stable and repeatable beam extraction of the ion source neutral beam injection system at the order of 100 seconds. This series of achievements are in a very leading position internationally.

The actual scene of the construction of the "Kuafu" Park was taken on September 11. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mu

Today, the "Kuafu" Park has been delivered and put into use. Let us "ride" a drone to experience the majestic appearance of "Kuafu".

All things grow with the help of the sun, which emits light and heat due to the nuclear fusion reaction inside it. If we could create a "sun" on Earth, humans would have the hope of achieving energy freedom.

Humankind began researching nuclear fusion energy in the middle of the 20th century. my country started dreaming of an "artificial sun" in the 1970s, and several generations of scientific researchers have been working on this dream.

China has now built a number of "artificial sun" experimental devices, including the "Eastern Super Torus (EAST)" and the "Chinese Tokamak", and has achieved many major results.

EAST

Located on the Science Island in the western suburbs of Hefei City, Anhui Province, it is a behemoth shaped like a boiler. It is 11 meters high, 8 meters in diameter, and weighs 400 tons. It consists of six major components: ultra-high vacuum chamber, longitudinal field coil, poloidal field coil, internal and external cold shields, external vacuum dewar, and support system.

It is a huge scientific device with international reputation, namely the EAST, a fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device designed and developed by China. Its completion marks that China has begun to lead the international frontier of magnetic confinement fusion research in the physics and engineering of steady-state operation, and has become the first country to master the new generation of advanced fully superconducting tokamak technology .

The EAST device, independently developed by China, has more than 200 core technologies and nearly 2,000 patents, integrating cutting-edge technologies such as "ultra-high temperature", "ultra-low temperature", "ultra-high vacuum", "ultra-strong magnetic field" and "ultra-large current".

Kuafu: Bigger, taller, more precise and more advanced than EAST

On this basis, China's next-generation "artificial sun" - the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) has completed the engineering design, and researching key technologies for the construction of CFETR is the main mission of "Kuafu".

Compared with EAST, CFETR will be larger, taller, more precise, and more advanced. At present, the prototypes of some components of CFETR can be seen in the laboratory of Kuafu.

Big orange petal: 1/8 vacuum research platform

For example, this huge "orange segment". It is one of the core components of the future fusion reactor, called the 1/8 vacuum research platform , with a height of more than 19 meters and a single weight of more than 290 tons. The future plasma combustion will occur in the middle of this platform.

This is an important component of the future "artificial sun", and it looks spectacular.

TF magnet

The TF magnet is the largest research platform in the CRAFT facility, standing 25 meters tall and weighing nearly 700 tons, equivalent to the weight of two Boeing passenger planes.

The scientific and technological connotation of "Kuafu" is even more impressive. Just like Kuafu in ancient Chinese mythology, he has great ambitions, yearns for light, is not afraid of hardships, and has the courage to pursue his dreams. More than 100 domestic cooperation units, more than 60 international cooperation units, and more than 1,000 builders have spent more than five years to overcome a series of scientific research and engineering technology problems.

On September 15, staff members installed and debugged equipment in the Kuafu Park. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mu

On September 15, this is the real object of the early fusion device generator in the "Kuafu" park, which symbolizes the spirit of self-reliance and hard work. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mu

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, Guangming Daily, etc.