CHINA’S Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), a flagship nuclear fusion reactor developed under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is edging closer to realizing the long‑standing scientific ambition of a “man‑made sun.” In recent years the project has recorded a string of technical milestones that mark important progress in the global pursuit of practical fusion power.

EAST, housed at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in eastern Anhui Province, is approximately 11 meters tall, eight meters in diameter and weighs more than 400 tons.

“If this machine can generate fusion energy as stably and continuously as the sun, it will help overcome the limitations of today’s primary energy sources, namely coal, oil and natural gas, which are finite and non‑renewable,” said Wang Teng, an associate researcher at the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Hefei Institute of Physical Science. His remark captures the broader promise of fusion: an abundant, low‑carbon energy source if the formidable technical challenges can be overcome.

EAST made global headlines in January when it reached a record plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius — nearly seven times hotter than the sun’s core — and maintained that extreme state for 1,066 seconds. According to Wang, the run demonstrated that the tokamak can reliably sustain such high temperatures, marking a transition from foundational laboratory experiments toward more engineering‑oriented applications of fusion research in China.

Building on EAST’s achievements, construction began in May on a next‑generation reactor, BEST — the Burning plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak. The project is scheduled for full assembly by 2027, with experimental operations to follow soon thereafter. The stated objective is to achieve a controlled demonstration of fusion power generation by 2030, which would lay critical groundwork for the China Fusion Engineering Demonstration Reactor (CFETR) and, ultimately, the goal of a commercial fusion power plant by around 2050. If realized, this trajectory would represent a major leap from scientific demonstration to engineering validation in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion.

“Once BEST is completed and fully tested, we will then begin experiments. It is possible that we may witness the production of the world’s first kilowatt‑hour of electricity from a fusion reactor and the lighting of the first lightbulb with this power,” Wang said, reflecting the mixture of caution and optimism that pervades fusion research.

Unlike EAST, which has been principally oriented toward experimental science, BEST emphasizes engineering verification and the pathways to commercial application. The project is being driven by Fusion Energy Technology as operator and has attracted a mix of State and private investment: local government support, backing from State energy giants such as China National Petroleum Corporation and China National Nuclear Corporation, and participation by private firms including electric vehicle maker Nio. The initiative is also engaging equipment suppliers and other industrial partners to begin building an upstream supply chain for fusion technology — an essential step if experimental success is to be translated into scalable power generation.

Taken together, EAST and BEST represent China’s concerted effort to move fusion from physics laboratories to real-life energy systems. While technical hurdles remain, the projects underscore a long‑term national commitment to a transformative energy future.

(SD-Agencies)