Fusion Reactor R&D
The development of nuclear fusion in China began in the late 1950s. A number of small- and medium-sized Tokamak devices were built and went into operation in the 1970s and 1980s, paving the way for the development of fusion reactors. Since the beginning of the 21st century, large- and medium-sized Tokamak devices have been built, such as China Circulator No.2A (HL-2A) by the Southwest Institute of Physics (SWIP) of CNNC and China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) by CAS's Institute of Plasma Physics. Among them, EAST is the world's first fully super-conducting Tokamak facility. On May 28, 2021, it set a new world record by reaching an experimentally repeatable 120 million degrees Celsius in 101 seconds, and 160 million degrees Celsius in 20 seconds for plasma operation.
China Circulator No.2M (HL-2M), a device built on HL-2A, is the largest and most advanced Tokamak device in China. It represents a new generation of advanced nuclear fusion experimental device with magnetic confinement. It was built in Chengdu, Sichuan Province and achieved its first plasma discharge on December 4, 2020, a testament to China's mastery of the technologies for the design, construction and operation of large advanced Tokamak devices.
聚变堆研发
中国核聚变能研究始于 20世纪 50年代末。 20世纪 70年代到 80年代，相继建成并运行了一些小型、中型托卡马克装置，为聚变堆的研发奠定了良好的基础。进入 21世纪以来，中国相继由核工业西南物理研究院建成了中国环流器二号 A（HL-2A）、中科院等离子体物理研究所建成了东方超环（ EAST）等大、中型托卡马克装置。其中东方超环（ EAST）是世界首个全超导大型托卡马克装置， 2021年 5月 28日，实现了可重复的 1.2亿摄氏度 101秒等离子体运行和 1.6亿摄氏度 20秒等离子体运行，创造了托卡马克实验装置运行的世界纪录。中国环流器二号 M（HL-2M）是 HL-2A的改造升级装置，是目前中国规模最大、参数最高的先进托卡马克装置，是中国新一代先进磁约束核聚变实验研究装置， 2020年 12月 4日在成都建成并实现首次放电，这标志着中国已自主掌握大型先进托卡马克装置的设计、建造、运行技术。