FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

---

China Donates a Small Tokamak for Thailand’s Fusion Program

Aug. 3, 2018 (EIRNS)—China’s Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) has donated its HT-6M tokamak to Thailand’s Institute of Nuclear Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported Aug. 1. The small experimental device had been in operation for 18 years, from 1984 to 2002. It is one of four fusion devices developed by the IPP, which today is home to China’s frontline Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, or EAST.

The two institutes signed a cooperation agreement last year, in which China will help Thailand with the installation and operation of the tokamak, and help “cultivate talent” in fusion. Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn attended the hand-over ceremony of the facility at the IPP.

China and Thailand are also collaborating, the Academy of Sciences reports, in “finding synergy between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Thailand’s National 4.0 Strategy.” To coordinate research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Innovation Cooperation Center has been established in Bangkok, which will also provide assistance for the commercialization of new discoveries.