After artificial sun, China exports key parts of nuclear fusion facility to France

 The world-class ICRH antenna, manufactured by ASIPP, was delivered to a French institute in Anhui province on Monday. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

The development of a world-class ion cyclotron resonant heating (ICRH) antenna, a key part of a French nuclear fusion facility, was completed by the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) on April 25. 

The antenna will be used to heat plasma for the Wolfram Environment in Steady-state Tokamak (WEST). A tokamak is a device that uses magnetic fields to manipulate and shape plasma. This is the first time that China has exported nuclear fusion technology to France, and also the first time China has exported key components for a facility that requires the highest international industry standard. 

The antenna started development in July of 2014. French experts believe that all key parts of the antenna meet technical specifications and fulfill the overall performance requirements. The successful completion of the antenna represents an important upgrade of the entire WEST system. 

Founded in 1978 in Hefei, ASIPP focuses on the research of controlled thermonuclear fusion energy. The institute has mastered advanced technology for high-temperature plasma experiments and nuclear fusion projects. Nuclear fusion is considered a clean and safe source of energy and is currently a popular topic for researchers around the world.

The world-class ICRH antenna, manufactured by ASIPP, was delivered to a French institute in Anhui province on Monday. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

Before this new development, China independently designed and built EAST, an “artificial sun” that realized UHT long pulse plasma discharge at temperatures of more than 50 million degrees. China continues to lead the world in research on steady state magnetic confinement fusion.