June 2, Kathmandu- Back in December of 2019, China announced it would soon begin operating its "artificial sun" — a device that is meant to replicate nuclear fusion, the same kind of reaction that powers the Sun. The device was due to be built by the end of 2019 and be operational in 2020.

Then, in December of 2020, the nuclear fusion reactor, called the HL-2M Tokamak, was powered up for the first time. It was an exciting time for all as it seemed that nuclear fusion, which is cleaner and a lot more abundant than nuclear fission, was on the horizon. 

Now, the nuclear reactor has broken a world record. The artificial sun, also called the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), achieved plasma temperature at 216 million degrees Fahrenheit (120 million degrees Celsius) for 101 seconds and 288 million degrees Fahrenheit (160 million degrees Celsius) for 20 seconds.

A previous record of maintaining the plasma temperature at 180 million deg. F (100 million deg. C) for 100 seconds was now broken and according to Li Miao, director of the physics department of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, this step is a key milestone in reaching the goal of keeping the temperature at a stable level for a long time, a necessary step in getting the nuclear fusion reactor to work. 

"The breakthrough is significant progress, and the ultimate goal should be keeping the temperature at a stable level for a long time," Li told.