Creating a fusion reaction and sustaining that reaction for a net energy output is one of the most difficult engineering challenges humans have ever attempted to solve. The challenge is so immense that thirty-five countries (including the U.S., China, Russia, and several countries in the European Union) have joined forces to build the International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor (ITER) which is a magnetic confinement tokamak (a.k.a. donut-shaped) reactor that hopes to see first plasma by 2035. While that’s the world’s best foot forward when it comes to fusion research, individual countries are also pursuing their own commercial fusion energy goals. And no country is doubling down harder than China.
China’s Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak fusion reactor (BEST) is intended to create five times its current energy output to revolutionize global energy production. It is an intermediary reactor between China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), a first-generation tokamak reactor and the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) which is a fusion plant demonstrator.
Located in Hefei, China, the BEST reactor utilizes a complex tokamak design. According to Sustainability Times’ reporting on May 8, it employs a doughnut-shaped vessel that heats plasma to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun. It fuses hydrogen isotopes to form helium, which releases massive amounts of energy.
Nuclear fusion is preferable to nuclear fission because it creates much less radioactive waste. Radioactive waste must be carefully managed and often requires significant storage space. Several countries are working on permanent geological repositories to store spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste. In the U.S. it is estimated that there will be no permanent repository until 2060 at the earliest. Eliminating the need for waste management streamlines energy production.
The fusion process also releases minimal harmful gases into the atmosphere. Fueling power plants with coal, natural gas, and oil creates dangerous carbon pollution. The released gases heat the planet, destabilize the climate, upset ecosystems, and further the spread of diseases.
While other major fusion projects, such as China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak and the U.S. Smallest Possible ARC prototype fusion machine (SPARK), have made strides, the BEST reactor is an important breakthrough. The U.S. SPARC reactor only promises to double its energy output while BEST aims to quintuple its output.
This high energy output would vastly improve the world’s sustainability. With commercial fusion power plants, energy would be near-limitless and thus easily accessible and substantially more affordable. People could enjoy lower utility bills and consistent, reliable energy while reducing the carbon pollution of the atmosphere.
The innovative BEST reactor would help slow down climate change and lead to a cleaner, cooler future. It would also help people save money and access clean energy. Reducing the pollution of energy production will benefit every human, reducing the health hazards of breathing polluted air or drinking contaminated water.
The BEST reactor is scheduled for delivery by November of 2027, and it could be the beginning of a major energy revolution.
The environmental benefits of fusion power combined with the financial savings and high energy output mean that China’s new BEST reactor could change how we think about and use energy. It’s an important leap forward in the development of commercial nuclear fusion technology and a critical step toward a healthier Earth.