Chinese scientists expect to complete the construction of the BEST thermonuclear installation (Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak) in 2027. According to the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Mao Ning, this project, informally called "artificial sun", is capable of becoming the world's first tokamak generating electricity.
The development is being carried out by the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei, Anhui Province. The installation weighs over 400 tons and is a giant vacuum thermos with a diameter of 18 meters and a height of 5 meters. Superconducting magnets operating at a temperature of minus 269 °C are used to hold plasma from deuterium and tritium.
Several similar projects are already operating in China. In particular, the EAST facility previously set a world record by maintaining high-temperature plasma for 1,066 seconds. According to scientists, the new BEST tokamak will be the next step towards a practical thermonuclear power reactor.
