China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor

The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (Chinese: 中国聚变工程实验堆; pinyin: Zhōngguó Jùbiàn Gōngchéng Shíyànduī), or CFETR, is a proposed tokamak fusion reactor, which uses a magnetic field in order to confine plasma and generate energy.^[1] As of 2015, tokamak devices are leading candidates for the construction of a viable and practical thermonuclear fusion reactor.^[1] These reactors may be used to generate sustainable energy while ensuring a lower environmental impact and a smaller carbon footprint than fossil fuel-based power plants.^[2][3]

The CFETR utilises and intends to build upon pre-existing nuclear fusion research from the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor program in order to address the gaps between ITER and the next generation thermonuclear plant and successor reactor class to ITER, the Demonstration Power Plant (DEMO).^[4]

As of 2019, three domestic fusion test reactors are in operation in China. These include EAST in ASIPP at Hefei, HL-2A(M) at the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP) at Chengdu and J-TEXT located at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan.^[5] Additionally, as of 2021, in an effort to more accurately simulate a potentially functionally operational CFETR, the HL-2A at SWIP was upgraded to the HL-2M.^[5] Construction for the HL-2M was completed in November 2019, and the device was commissioned on December 4, 2020.^[3]

The conceptual design of the CFETR, completed in 2015, is largely based on the design of these three domestic fusion reactors.^[5] Construction of the CFETR will likely begin in the 2020s, with expected completion by the 2030s.^[5]