(Discoverychannel, Oct 6, 2006) A reported first-ever thermonuclear fusion reaction in China never really took place.

The Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, announced what would have been a ground-breaking success on Sept. 29. The news was repeated cautiously around the world, but is now proven to be false.

It was claimed that deuterium and tritium atoms were fused together at a temperature of 100 million C. The experiment apparently took place in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, a new test reactor.

"The reports were totally wrong," Jiangang Li, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics in Heifei, Anhui province told New Scientist. The test had only involved the injection of ionized hydrogen plasma into the reactor. No fusion took place.

Fusion reactions promise near-unlimited energy by fusing the nuclei of two atoms together. Current nuclear reactors split nuclei, producing more waste and less energy.

Fusion seeks to reproduce the Sun's method for producing energy.

Progress in achieving fusion

The International Thermonuclear Reactor is the latest stage in work towards harnessing fusion power. A seven-nation consortium hopes to start building the model test reactor by next year.

The consortium hopes to create fusion - which requires gas heated to over 100 million C - in a fully-functional reactor by 2040.

By the end of the century, it could supply a quarter of the world's energy needs.

Source:DiscoveryChannel
tag:China energy