The world is on the verge of an energy revolution, and the pace is already being dictated by Asia. Chinese scientists have achieved a historic milestone within the framework of the large-scale CRAFT project, completing the final tests of the most powerful superconducting fusion magnet ever created. This technological marvel serves as a direct bridge between the international experimental ITER reactor in France and future commercial power plants. With the move, Beijing makes a serious bid to overtake the European DEMO project and be the first in history to connect an artificial sun to its national electricity grid.
The construction of this unique component took six years of round-the-clock work. It is a fundamental element of the so-called toroidal magnetic system, whose task is to induce a powerful current and generate plasma in the working chamber of the future reactor. Since the temperature of the plasma column will exceed a mind-boggling 100 million degrees Celsius, the magnetic field is the only barrier that can keep this incendiary substance in the center of the thermonuclear “donut”, preventing it from touching and instantly vaporizing the walls of the facility.
The scale of the Chinese development is literally impressive. Each individual D-shaped segment of the magnetic coil has impressive dimensions of 21 by 12 meters and weighs a colossal 582 tons. This makes it nearly a third larger than the analogues designed for the European ITER, and the magnetic energy accumulated in it is three times higher. Although the development of the first prototype took years, scientists are adamant that the production technology is now fully developed and the next components will leave the factories much faster.
In parallel, the central solenoid of the system was tested at the CRAFT site, which exceeded even the wildest expectations. During the maximum power tests, the device demonstrated perfect stability when a current of 60 kiloamperes flowed, storing over 6 megajoules of energy. For comparison, the European equivalent in ITER is designed for a significantly more modest 46 kiloamperes, which clearly demonstrates the technological superiority of the new Chinese architecture.
The path of the Asian superpower in this field began modestly in the 1990s with the purchase of the Russian T-7 reactor. But in just a few decades, the country has come a long way, building its own EAST tokamak in 2006. Now, the spotlight is on its successor, BEST, which is scheduled to ignite and produce its first plasma next year. The ultimate goal is clear: by the middle of the next decade, China plans to have the world's first operational experimental fusion power plant, CFETR, in operation, leaving other global players in the role of catch-up.