China Commission Its First Tokamak Fusion Reactor Today!

Dec. 4, 2020 (EIRNS)—People’s Daily reports that China began the commissioning of its HL-2M Tokamak nuclear fusion reactor in Chengdu, Sichuan province today, after its installation work was completed. This is the step required for testing operations and verifying functioning of all reactor systems and components before full operation can begin. PhysOrg reports that this tokamak is China’s largest and most advanced, which Chinese scientists plan to use in collaboration with scientists working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which is also a tokamak. A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a torus. In a tokamak, first designed by the Soviets in 1958, magnetic field coils confine plasma particles to allow the plasma to achieve the conditions necessary for fusion.

People’s Daily wrote that this

“breakthrough has laid a solid foundation for China’s independent design and construction of nuclear fusion reactors.... The development of nuclear fusion energy is not only a way to solve China’s strategic energy needs, but also has great significance for the future sustainable development of China’s energy and national economy.”

And of the world development, we might add.