Nation launches intl program for fusion energy research

China launched an international science program focused on fusion burning plasma research on Monday in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, opening several major fusion research platforms to global scientists for joint scientific advancements.

The international program, initiated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Plasma Physics, will provide global access to the country's multiple major fusion research platforms, including the Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak, or BEST, facility in Hefei.

At the launch event, fusion scientists from more than 10 countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Germany, jointly signed and released the Hefei Fusion Declaration to promote open science and encourage researchers worldwide to join in fusion research efforts in China.

Fusion energy, which replicates the sun's power generation process, is hailed as an ideal clean energy source. For decades, scientists have used techniques like magnetic confinement to create the extreme conditions required for fusion.

Dubbed the "artificial sun", the tokamak device is basically a magnetic cage designed to confine, shape and control super-hot plasmas that make fusion reactions possible.

Unlike previous fusion experimental devices, BEST is designed to demonstrate actual "burning" of deuterium-tritium plasma. The facility has attracted significant public attention since the beginning of its full-scale assembly in Hefei in May.

A "burning plasma" is like a flame sustained by the heat generated within the fusion reaction itself, forming the foundation for continuous power generation.

According to the Hefei Fusion Declaration, the scientific feasibility of harnessing fusion energy via tokamak devices is close to the demonstration stage, with the outlook of a transition toward fusion engineering validation.

In January, a steady-state long-pulse high-confinement plasma operation at 104 million C for 1,066 seconds was successfully conducted by the Institute of Plasma Physics on "Science Island" located on the outskirts of Hefei.

It is currently a key international hub for fusion research after nearly half a century of development. It also hosts the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, or EAST, and the Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology, or CRAFT.

The construction of the BEST facility has been progressing rapidly, while the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor, or CFETR, is under design and preliminary operational evaluations in Hefei. However, significant engineering and physical challenges remain for harnessing fusion energy.

"To address these challenges, we must pool the wisdom and strength of scientists and engineers worldwide by fostering more pragmatic, intimate and transparent international collaboration," said the declaration.

Thanks to the accelerated advancement of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, project, the continuous support from global governments and growing interest from private sectors worldwide, fusion research has become a focal point for global scientific and industrial innovation.

"The ITER has been the most remarkable example of a project that has been developed together, constructed together, but we have to continue working together," said Gianfranco Federici, scientist and program manager of EUROfusion, a consortium that aims to harness nuclear fusion as a clean and virtually limitless source of energy for the future.

Federici said the declaration is "a tangible example of a proposal to overcome differences and conflicts", and "work on a common goal together to achieve free clean energy that can support the growth, freedom and peace of all humankind".

Alan Costley, a senior scientist from the UK, said: "It's necessary to have this collaboration across many countries, labs and institutions. … And now, China will be playing a leading role in this collaboration."

zhulixin@chinadaily.com.cn