Thousands of seconds of stable operation, AI precise regulation — "Artificial Sun" lights up a new hope for future energy.

This article is reproduced from [CCTV News Client];

Starting strong in the “15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030 and the 15th Year” period, the future industries will accelerate on-the-ground implementation. In Shanghai Lingang, China has achieved a landmark breakthrough in the field of future energy—China’s first full high-temperature superconducting tokamak device, the world’s “Honghuang 70,” has successfully delivered steady-state long-pulse operation for 1,337 seconds, setting a new world record for commercial nuclear fusion. Praised as an “artificial sun,” this device marks a key step for China to seize the commanding heights in future energy and to explore a Chinese solution for the “ultimate energy.”

CCTV reporter Chen Yang: In a research laboratory workshop in Shanghai Lingang, this “big machine” is the world’s first full high-temperature superconducting tokamak device—“Honghuang 70.” Just last month, it completed an important breakthrough, achieving steady-state long-pulse operation for 1,337 seconds, meaning it ran continuously for roughly 22 minutes. Right now, what the researchers are doing is data monitoring and checking, repairing, and servicing certain key components in preparation for the next round of experiments.

Focusing on future industries: exploring China’s solution for “ultimate energy”

CCTV reporter Chen Yang: This device has a very vivid name—“artificial sun.” The reason the sun keeps shining and warming is the nuclear fusion reactions inside it. If we could also build such a “furnace” on Earth, using deuterium extracted from seawater as fuel, we could obtain clean energy that keeps coming endlessly.

How do you power up energy storage? The temperature inside the sun is about 15 million degrees Celsius. On Earth, there isn’t such a high temperature and gravitational pull; at that kind of temperature, any material would instantly vaporize. The answer to this question lies in this “donut.”

In this cross-sectional diagram, the core structure is this ring-shaped vacuum chamber, like a “donut,” with a ring of coils wrapped around it. Once powered on, these coils will generate a spiral magnetic field that you cannot see with the naked eye but is extremely powerful. When this magnetic field appears, it will suspend the fireball in midair and hold it steadily, preventing it from touching any inner wall.

Refreshing global records: high-temperature superconducting technology delivers an “opportunity to overtake”

What is different between “Honghuang 70” and conventional tokamaks? The key lies in the high-temperature superconducting materials used in “Honghuang 70.”

A conventional magnet heats up when powered on and eventually stops working after running for a while. But in high-temperature superconducting materials, the electrical resistance becomes zero at the critical temperature, allowing them to generate a powerful magnetic field. By increasing the strength of the magnetic field, it greatly reduces the size of the device and also significantly lowers construction costs.

From June 2024 to now, this device has achieved a series of breakthroughs. More importantly, its domestic production rate exceeds 96%, achieving fully independent intellectual property rights.

AI deeply empowers: artificial intelligence reshapes the energy landscape

To tame this “artificial sun,” hardware alone isn’t enough—you also need a smart “brain.” The research team equips “Honghuang 70” with an AI “brain,” which can monitor parameters such as the fireball’s temperature, position, and density in real time, and regulate the overall magnetic field at millisecond-level precision, like real-time navigation—steering each step steadily. It turns the former “trial-and-error” style of experiments into “precision” control.

In the opening year of the “15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030 and the 15th Year,” future energy will see new breakthroughs. Frontier explorations such as controllable nuclear fusion will lay a more solid foundation for realizing our future energy dreams.

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