Chinese scientist expects commercialized fusion reactor

时间：2007-10-22 07:27:49

（单词翻译:单击）

Oct. 20 - A leading scientist who organizes China's experimental controlled thermonuclear fusion1 said Saturday that a fusion reactor2 is expected to generate electricity in a commercial sense in about half a century.

 

Wan3 Yuanxi, a principal researcher and chief coordinator4 of the China-made experimental fusion reactor, said experiments are going on well in a national laboratory in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Plasma5 Physics in Hefei, east Anhui Province.

 

After joining the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in 2003, lab data collected from China's Experimental Advanced Super-conducting Tokamak (EAST), a fusion reaction idea bred by Russian scientists decades ago, would contribute to a global consortium for the 4.6-billion-euro ITER project.

 

The first successful test was conducted in late September last year at the CAS laboratory, Wan said. Since then, the facilities have been operating well.

 

During the experiment, deuterium and tritium atoms were forced together at a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius6.

 

"At that temperature, the super heated plasma, which is neither a gas, a liquid, nor a solid, should begin to give off its own energy," the scientist explained.

 

The first test lasted nearly three seconds, and generated an electrical current of 200 kiloamperes, Wan said.

 

The device is planned to eventually create a plasma lasting7 1, 000 consecutive8 seconds, the longest a fusion reactor has ever run.

 

Thanks to fusion technology, the deuterium extracted from one liter of sea water can produce energy equivalent to that generated by burning 300 liters of gasoline, Wan said.

 

The EAST is an upgrade of China's first-generation Tokamak device and the first of its kind in operation in the world.

 

The CAS institute spent eight years and 200 million yuan (26.7 million U.S. dollars) on building the experimental reactor.

 

The columniform device, made with special stainless9 steel, is about 12 meters high and weighs 400 tons.

 

Unlike traditional nuclear fission10 reactors11, which split atoms to create energy and produce dangerous radioactive waste, the EAST uses nuclear fusion to compress atoms at extremely high temperatures to generate energy that would produce very little pollution.

 

Scientists theorize that a fully12 functional13 fusion reactor would provide cheaper, safer, cleaner and endless energy and reduce the world's dependence14 on fossil fuels.

 

The multi-nationally collaborated15 ITER, which is expected to be completed in 2016, was initiated16 by the United States and the Soviet17 Union.

 

Among the six partners involved in this ambitious plan, the European Union will cover 50 percent of the total budget. The remaining five, the United States, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and China, will pay 10 percent each.

 
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1 fusion HfDz5     
n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接
参考例句：
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
  • This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。
2 reactor jTnxL     
n.反应器；反应堆
参考例句：
  • The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
  • Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。
3 wan np5yT     
(wide area network)广域网
参考例句：
  • The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。
4 coordinator Gvazk6     
n.协调人
参考例句：
  • The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
  • How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？
5 plasma z2xzC     
n.血浆，细胞质，乳清
参考例句：
  • Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
  • The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。
6 Celsius AXRzl     
adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的
参考例句：
  • The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
  • The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。
7 lasting IpCz02     
adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持
参考例句：
  • The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
  • We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。
8 consecutive DpPz0     
adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的
参考例句：
  • It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
  • The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。
9 stainless kuSwr     
adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的
参考例句：
  • I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
  • Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。
10 fission WjTxu     
n.裂开；分裂生殖
参考例句：
  • The fission of the cell could be inhibited with certain chemicals.细胞的裂变可以通过某些化学药品加以抑制。
  • Nuclear fission releases tremendous amounts of energy.核裂变释放出巨大的能量。
11 reactors 774794d45796c1ac60b7fda5e55a878b     
起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆
参考例句：
  • The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
  • The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。
12 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
13 functional 5hMxa     
adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的
参考例句：
  • The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
  • The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。
14 dependence 3wsx9     
n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属
参考例句：
  • Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
  • He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
15 collaborated c49a4f9c170cb7c268fccb474f5f0d4f     
合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国
参考例句：
  • We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
  • We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。
16 initiated 9cd5622f36ab9090359c3cf3ca4ddda3     
n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入
参考例句：
  • He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
  • The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。
17 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃
参考例句：
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

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