PRESS RELEASE

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China Announces Successful Fusion Test

Sept. 29, 2006 (EIRNS)—Chinese scientists announced a successful thermonuclear fusion experiment in their Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) based in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui province. EAST, made with special stainless steel, about 12 meters in height, and weighing 400 tons, is an upgrade of China's first-generation Tokamak device.

EAST is based at the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the experiment, reports indicate, the superheated plasma attained a temperature of about 100 million Celsius. The first tests lasted nearly three minutes, and generated an electrical current of 200 kiloamps, a scientist taking part in the experiment told Xinhua. The experiments are continuing, he added.

Li Jiangang, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics, said the results of the tests met the expectations of the sicentists and signified a great breeakthrough in the research of thermonuclear fusion. "That means we lead all our competitors by at least a decade," said Li. "The breakththrough will make it possible for mankind to harness a safe, clean, and endless source of energy."

The data of the EAST test will be submitted to the International Atomic Energy General Conference in Vienna.