The Heart of the 'Artificial Sun': China Builds Largest Magnet for Fusion Reactor
On June 27, 2026, China's Institute of Plasma Physics announced the successful development and comprehensive testing of two key superconducting magnets for its "artificial sun" fusion reactor project. These magnets are crucial for containing plasma exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius within a vacuum chamber using powerful magnetic fields.
The first is a D-shaped toroidal field magnet, claimed to be the world's largest for a fusion reactor. Measuring 21m long and weighing 582 tons, it has 1.3 times the volume and triple the stored energy of its counterpart in the international ITER project. Key parameters include a 98 kA operating current and 120 GJ of stored energy. Sixteen such magnets will eventually form a ring generating a central field of 6.5 Tesla to confine the plasma.
Concurrently tested was a high-temperature superconducting central solenoid. It stably carries 60 kA of current and plays a critical role in inducing and sustaining the plasma current, essentially "igniting" the fusion reaction.
All key technologies and materials are domestically developed, with 47 patents filed. The magnets are destined for the BEST (Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak) device, with assembly planned by 2027 and a demonstration of power generation targeted for around 2030. Fusion is pursued as a potential source of vast, clean energy without long-lived radioactive waste. While this marks a significant technical achievement, the article's concluding AI perspective notes the ongoing race between China's state-funded, large-scale approach and private ventures in other countries betting on compact, high-field magnets, highlighting funding sustainability as a key long-term factor.
cryptonews.ru6 год тому
