People view a model of the Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST) during the Fusion Energy Technology and Industry Conference 2026 in Hefei, East China’s Anhui Province, on Saturday.

The two-day conference released the latest update of the BEST project, which hopes to demonstrate net fusion power gain and electricity generation by around 2030, a milestone often described as lighting humanity’s “first nuclear-fusion-powered lamp.”

Xinhua