China To Build a New Fusion Research Center and Fusion Engineering Test Reactor

April 2, 2019 (EIRNS)—It has been announced this week that the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has the go-ahead to build a new Fusion Research Center, in order to test large fusion reactor components, such as superconducting magnets, as well as to conduct studies of plasma behavior. It will be an integrated research facility, which the Institute of Plasma Physics, home of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), says is key for fusion systems. As World Nuclear News reports April 1, the center is “one of the major scientific engineering projects” in China’s 13th Five Year Plan.

The Engineering Test Reactor, which will be smaller than the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) being built in France, will nonetheless be comparable in performance. It is projected to go into operation in 2030. Hopes are for the capability to have fusion power reactors by the time of 2050.

The integrated center will be in at the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, Anhui province.

In addition to China, Japan and Europe have plans for an engineering reactor, as the step between ITER and a commercial demonstration plant.