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China Appears To Build Giant Nuclear Fusion Research Site

Submitted by Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

China is believed to be constructing a huge fusion research site in its southwest, which could help it with both nuclear fusion efforts and nuclear weapons design, analysts and researchers have told Reuters, analyzing satellite images.

The southwestern city of Mianyang is likely the new site of the fusion research facility, which is estimated to be around 50% bigger than the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Northern California and has a similar layout, Decker Eveleth, a researcher at U.S.-based independent research organization CNA Corp, told Reuters.

china appears to build giant nuclear fusion research site

Satellite imagery of the site shows four bays to house lasers and a central bay for conducting experiments.

Apart from nuclear fusion, considered the Holy Grail of infinite clean energy, such research site could also facilitate the design of nuclear weapons, William Alberque, a nuclear policy analyst at the Henry L. Stimson Centre, told Reuters.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which has China and the U.S. among its signatories, bans all nuclear explosions, regardless of the purpose or place.

Laser fusion research, however, is allowed.

Nuclear fusion research and development has gained momentum in recent years after several momentous breakthroughs and achievements. The global race to overcome the engineering challenges to achieving zero-emission power from a nuclear reaction without risking disaster and radiation has heated up.

china appears to build giant nuclear fusion research site

As of last year, China was spending about $1.5 billion annually on fusion research. That was nearly twice as much as the 2024 budget for nuclear fusion of the U.S. government.

Just this month, news broke that Chinese researchers from the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) at the Hefei Institute of Physical Science had managed to sustain a nuclear fusion reaction at a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for 1,066 seconds, breaking their previous record of 403 seconds they set in April 2023. The achievement by China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) marks yet another milestone in the country’s quest to win the ongoing nuclear fusion race.

via January 28th 2025