The latest (2025) successful test conducted by the team of Chinese scientists from Hefei, within the framework of the EAST experiment, moves the line of hitherto impossible much closer to reality. That's due to the remarkable progress they've made by sustaining the nuclear fusion reaction for astounding more than seventeen minutes. By the same, a new record was set beating the previous one three times!
It's another, significant step towards a pure, safe and almost unlimited source of energy thanks to creation of "the artificial star", in the laboratory conditions in a torus-shape device called in short EAST i.e. Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. It was designed to emulate the processes taking place in the cores of stars, including the Sun.
This way the bar was raised even higher in the international rivalry, which, on the other hand, doesn’t exclude cooperation as since 2006 China has been participating (9%) in the construction of ITER; the largest tokamak in the world. Therefore, there's undoubtedly a space for exchanging expertise and experience. All these, joint or individual, efforts may finally pave the way for fusion reactors capable to generate more energy than they use and simultaneously free from nuclear waste.
However, the success of EAST can be also considered in a different aspect. I mean the KHECTALe Scale; Kardashev's Hypothetical Extraterrestrial Civilization Technical Advancement Level Scale. If we manage to commercialize the fusion reactors, we'll fulfil one of the criteria characteristic for type one ETC defined in the above mentioned classification. Unfortunately, the others are no less challenging and will require, first of all, time… A lot of time, perseverance, commitment and will of the generations yet to come.
Nevertheless, the initial date has been already set. At least by Michio Kaku. So… 2 100. At the earliest. Sounds promising? I would say that rather uncertainly, bearing in mind our "warlike" gen, unless singularity comes first.