(Yicai Global) July 5 -- China's new generation of "man-made small sun" in Hefei Science Island in eastern China's Anhui province has once again set the world record. The Experimental Advanced Super-Conducting Tokamak (EAST) for the first time obtained a hundred-second-order steady-state high-confinement-mode plasma.

On July 3, the world's first EAST achieved stable operation of steady-state long-pulse high-confinement-mode plasma for 101.2 seconds, setting a new world record, China News Service reported.

The EAST can be discharged several times in sustainable and stable way, as long as some minimum amount of electricity is supplied, sufficient temperature and power are given, and plasma density is increased. It is with such features as "small input and big output" that the EAST has a name of "man-made small sun".

This indicates that China's magnetic confinement fusion research will continue to lead the international forefront in the physical and engineering aspects of steady-state operation, and is of huge scientific significance to the construction and operation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR).

The ITER program is the largest international scientific and technological cooperation project in the world, and it is an important way for human beings to look for efficient and clean energy. How to achieve steady-state long-pulse high-confinement-mode plasma operation is a key scientific problem to solve urgently in the field of future fusion reactor, and it is an important mission for the EAST to preview the steady-state operation for ITER.