China's 'artificial sun' project enters key construction phase

China's nuclear fusion research project has reached a major milestone: the project complex for the Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST) was officially delivered and put into operation, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Thursday.

BEST, a compact fusion experimental device under construction in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, is the country's independently developed facility to replicate the nuclear fusion process that powers the sun.

Since July, multiple key components of the device have been delivered to the construction site, and assembly work has progressed steadily, with more than half of the planned tasks completed.

The main unit of the fusion device has entered its most critical construction phase, with installation of core systems underway, including the vacuum chamber, cryogenic shield, toroidal field magnets and other internal precision parts.

The vacuum chamber serves as a furnace where the fusion reaction takes place. The cryogenic shield acts as a super-insulation layer to block heat transfer. Meanwhile, the toroidal field magnets generate powerful magnetic fields to confine the high-temperature plasma and prevent it from coming into contact with the reactor walls.

BEST is planned to complete construction by 2027 and aims to demonstrate deuterium-tritium fusion power generation around 2030. The project seeks to replicate on Earth the process by which the sun produces light and heat, and help verify the feasibility of commercial electricity generation through controlled nuclear fusion.