China rolls out core component of world's largest 'artificial sun'

BEIJING -- China has rolled out a core component in the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor project, also known as the world's largest "artificial sun", its developer said Tuesday.

The production of the enhanced-heat-flux first wall panel of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), has been completed, with its performances substantially higher than design requirements, and thus suitable for mass production, according to its developer, Southwestern Institute of Physics under the China National Nuclear Corporation.

The ITER's first wall panel, designed to have immediate contact with plasma as hot as 100 million degrees Celsius, is regarded as one of the most pivotal components in the reactor core, China's Science Daily reported on Tuesday.

The ITER, one of the largest and most important international scientific research projects in the world, is reputed as an "Artificial Sun" since it generates clean, carbon-free energy in a way similar to the sun by emitting light and heat via fusion reactions.

The project is jointly funded by the European Union, China, the United States, Japan, Republic of Korea, India and Russia.