The Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST), an experimental compact fusion device under construction in Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, has successfully installed its first key component, the Dewar base, marking a milestone on the path toward the world's first electricity generation from fusion power.
Fusion energy, often hailed as the ideal "ultimate energy source," seeks to replicate the nuclear fusion process that powers the sun.
Unlike previous fusion experimental devices, BEST is designed to demonstrate actual "burning" of deuterium-tritium plasma. Since the project's full-scale assembly began in May this year, the facility has attracted significant public attention.
At the heart of BEST lies the Dewar, a core component that functions like a giant high-vacuum thermos flask. It insulates the superconducting magnets, which must operate at minus 269 degrees Celsius, enabling them to confine plasma heated to over 100 million degrees.
The Dewar base serves as the foundation of BEST and will eventually support more than 6,000 tons of equipment.
Weighing over 400 tons, measuring about 18 meters in diameter and five meters in height, the Dewar base is not only the heaviest single component of BEST's main machine, but also the largest vacuum component ever produced by Chinese fusion research scientists.
With the Dewar base successfully installed, other core components of the main machine will be gradually assembled, meaning the BEST device is on course for completion by the end of 2027.
China achieves milestone in compact fusion project with key component installation
