BEST
BEST is a tokamak fusion device run by Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in China. It is under construction. Like every fusion device built so far, it has produced no net electricity.
Nothing yet: civil works began in 2023 and first deuterium plasma is targeted for 2027. It is included because it is the most consequential fusion machine under construction after ITER and the only one whose stated purpose is to demonstrate electricity generation from a burning plasma. Designed for 20 to 200 MW of fusion power, with a 3.6 metre major radius and a plasma current of 4 to 7 MA. Deuterium-tritium operation is described as under review rather than committed.
If it works to schedule, China would demonstrate electricity from fusion before ITER produces its first plasma. Building it in four years, on a site adjacent to EAST, is a different approach from ITER's thirty-five-nation consortium, and the schedule is the claim most worth watching sceptically.
| Organisation | Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences |
|---|---|
| Approach | tokamak |
| Confinement | magnetic |
| Country | China |
| Status | Under construction |
| First plasma | not yet |
| Target date | 2027 |
|---|---|
| Power target | 200MW |
| Energy gain target | none stated |
| Net electricity | No. no fusion device has produced any |
Other tokamak projects
Fusion needs tritium, and the world's civilian stock comes mostly from CANDU fission reactors. See the fusion overview.
BEST in context
14 of the 24 fusion projects on record use the tokamak approach: 7 operating, 3 under construction, 3 planned and 1 closed.
It lists a target date of 2027, 1 year from now; of the 7 projects that list one, none lists an earlier year. A target date is the project's own aim, not a forecast.
Its stated fusion power target is 200 MW, 4th of the 6 projects that state one (median 300 MW).
| Measure | BEST | Median of all projects | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target date | 2027 | 2028 | 1 of 7 (earliest first) |
| Fusion power target (MW) | 200 | 300 | 4 of 6 |
Worked out from the entries on this site only, so a figure compares BEST with what is recorded here, not with everything that exists. An entry with no value for a measure is left out of that measure's ranking and median.
Sources
- World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Fusion Power · retrieved 2026-09-07
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data