Chinese commercial reactor achieves nuclear fusion with clean hydrogen-boron fuel
In a first, a Chinese company has achieved high-parameter hydrogen-boron plasma control, marking a “significant and valuable” advance in research into neutron-free magnetic confinement fusion. ENN Group, based in Langfang, Hebei province, announced on Monday that its EXL-50U spherical device – a compact tokamak that uses a magnetic field to confine charged gas, or plasma, for nuclear fusion…
A Chinese commercial reactor has made history by successfully achieving nuclear fusion using hydrogen-boron fuel, marking a significant breakthrough in the field. The EXL-50U spherical device, developed by ENN Group in Langfang, Hebei province, demonstrated the first hydrogen-boron fusion reaction on its own device. This marks a departure from the predominantly used deuterium-tritium fuel, which is challenging to source and produces radioactive waste.
ENN Group opted for hydrogen-boron fusion, a process that generates harmless helium nuclei and energy without releasing high-energy neutrons. The company's chief engineer, Yang Yuanming, explained that hydrogen-boron fuel is abundant and easily accessible. The fusion reaction was triggered by a precise combination of high-energy neutral beam injection and radio frequency waves, generating "fast protons" that catalyzed a chain reaction, pushing the fusion reaction rate beyond 100 million times per second.
The achievement has garnered unanimous agreement from leading experts who reviewed the experimental results, highlighting its value to global magnetic confinement fusion research. ENN Group, along with other Chinese companies and state-backed enterprises, is actively racing to build a commercial fusion reactor by 2035 or sooner.
The company recently announced the groundbreaking of the Helong-2 project, a third-generation fusion device that will serve as an important engineering platform in the pursuit of a smart fusion power plant.
Written by urgent.news from Reuters Business via SCMP's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
