On 28 March, China’s new generation HL-3 tokamak, developed by the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP) under the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), achieved a historic breakthrough in fusion research. The device successfully maintained an ion temperature of 117 million degrees Celsius and an electron temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius for the first time, significantly improving the fusion triple product and advancing China’s fusion programme into the burning plasma experimental phase.

The recent experiments with HL-3 have set several new records in China’s fusion research and made a series of original and groundbreaking achievements, including independent development and deployment of key fusion research infrastructure, achieving world-leading performance in plasma confinement; pioneering implementation of a novel core energy confinement enhancement methodology and temperature elevation strategies; effective resolution of critical measurement challenges for core plasma temperature and density in the 100 million degree range; widespread application of the indigenously developed CODIS (Control System for Fusion Devices), a proprietary integrated control platform; international standardization of original supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) and hybrid plasma fueling technologies, which have been approved as ISO standards.

These advances represent a significant leap forward in China’s pursuit of controlled fusion energy. 

(Source: Southwestern Institute of Physics)