China has entered the final stage of assembling its Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST) at the Institute of Energy in the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Centre. BEST, which began construction in 2023, is expected to be completed in 2027. The main building has been completed and pre-assembly of different components has begun.
According to Chinese state media, BEST is an intermediate step between earlier Chinese projects and a much larger demonstration reactor planned for future construction. The project’s chief engineer, Song Yuntao, told reporters that the team “has fully mastered key technologies from both a scientific and technical point of view”. BEST aims to redefine the future of clean energy by achieving an unprecedented five-fold energy gain through nuclear fusion technology.
The BEST reactor is designed to achieve real-world energy production, marking a crucial step towards commercial viability. It represents an intermediate phase between China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) and the future Chinese Fusion Engineering Demo Reactor (CFEDR). The project has quickly advanced through civil construction and component installation phases. Experts emphasise the need for meticulous precision during assembly, with installation errors kept within a millimetre range.
BEST is designed as a compact high-field tokamak and aims to explore burning plasma physics to achieve advanced steady-state plasma performance. With long pulse duration and compact size, BEST will have high neutron fluence, high density and flux of energy and particles, providing a test bed for some challenging issues.
