In a major development, satellite imagery analysis has revealed that China is developing a laser fusion research facility in Mianyang, a city in the southwestern region of the country.
The scale of this facility is about 50 percent bigger than the US National Ignition Facility (NIF), which is currently the world’s largest inertial confinement fusion facility.
According to experts, this development could have huge implications for both nuclear weapons research and clean energy production.
Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that will house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that will hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers will fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at U.S.-based independent research organization CNA Corp, as reported by Reuters.
Using high-powered lasers for nuclear research
Laser fusion is also called inertial confinement fusion. It uses high-powered lasers to induce extreme heat and compression in a target containing hydrogen isotopes.
This process generates a micro-scale fusion reaction, which mimics the energy production of the sun and other stars. It is being considered a “holy grail” of clean and abundant energy.
Unlike traditional fossil fuels, it promises to offer a solution to rising global energy demands without any adverse environmental impact. Scientists have long been trying to successfully execute this process on the Earth.
Successful research at this facility could give a major boost to the energy sector.
Could better nuclear weapons
However, the latest development also has some potential military applications by providing valuable data. Such facilities could lead to the refinement of existing nuclear weapons designs and explorations of new ones without conducting actual nuclear tests.
This development is even more significant given the ban on actual nuclear tests under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Such facilities could allow China to improve its nuclear weapons designs. For context, both China and the United States are signatories to this treaty.
Notably, this development coincides with previous observations of China’s expanding nuclear capabilities.
The new laser fusion facility appears to be located at the same site identified in 2020, when the US government released satellite imagery highlighting the growth of nuclear weapons support facilities in Mianyang.
Global fusion race
While there is no official statement on whether it is for clean energy or military purposes, the latest fusion research facility in China aligns with the increasing global interest in this technology and its potential.
Meanwhile, fusion research in China has made history. The country’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which is also called ‘artificial sun’, has set a record in the fusion process. It has achieved the milestone of 1,006 seconds of operations for sustained plasma temperature above 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius).
However, China is not the only country that has been making strides. Recently, scientists at the US Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) created the world’s brightest X-ray source to advance fusion energy research.
