‘China speed’ accelerates drive towards next step in nuclear fusion

China is accelerating its efforts to build the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor capable of achieving net energy generation – a move that would be a historic step towards commercialising a clean, safe and near-limitless source of energy.

The Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (Best), is now in its final assembly phase in Hefei and is expected to be completed in 2027, state news agency Xinhua reported.

However, SPARC, an experimental fusion facility under construction in Massachusetts, is working towards the same goal – that of producing more energy from fusion than it consumes – and is working to a similar timeline.

The assembly of Best involves tens of thousands of components with a total weight of around 6,000 tonnes.

“We have fully mastered the core technologies, both scientifically and technically,” said Song Yuntao, the project’s chief engineer from the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, at a ceremony marking the start of the final stage of construction on Thursday.

Work began two months ahead of schedule, according to Xinhua. “In less than two years, we completed the civil construction, with components from various systems already reaching operational readiness – this is what we call ‘China speed’,” said Yan Jianwen, chairman of Neo Fusion, the state-backed company leading the project.

Best is a tokamak, a doughnut-shaped device widely seen as the most promising design for making nuclear fusion – a process that recreates the process by which the sun generates energy – a viable source of electricity.

South China Morning Post