China presents next-gen fusion reactor at IAEA conference

China presented its next-generation fusion reactor, the HL-4 tokamak, at a side event during the 70th IAEA General Conference in Vienna this week, outlining an ambitious roadmap to achieve commercial fusion energy by 2050. The device, now under construction in Shanghai, is described as the world's first high-temperature superconducting steady-state burning experimental fusion platform.world-nuclear-news+1

The event, hosted by China Fusion Energy Co — a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation — included the signing of cooperation agreements with the multinational ITER fusion project and between China's Southwestern Institute of Physics and the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology.world-nuclear-news

A New Generation of Fusion Hardware

The HL-4 represents a leap from its predecessor, the HL-3, which relies on conventional copper coils that overheat and prevent continuous operation. The HL-4 will instead use fully high-temperature superconducting magnets generating a field of 25 tesla, allowing steady-state operation while dramatically reducing the reactor's physical footprint. The facility also incorporates AI-driven operation technology to manage reactor performance.interestingengineering

The concept art for the HL-4 was first released at the Shanghai Fusion Energy Conference in late August, where engineers described the device's core mission: to validate the reliability of high-temperature superconducting magnets under the extreme thermal, radiation, and mechanical loads of a working fusion environment.econtransition+1

China Fusion Energy Co leads the HTS Magnet Technology Innovation Consortium, with a 25-tesla magnet development and testing line scheduled for completion by 2028, and a prototype magnet by 2030.world-nuclear-news

HL-3 Achievements and International Cooperation

Attendees in Vienna were told that the HL-3 device, China's largest tokamak, achieved "dual hundred-million-degree" operation in 2025, reaching an ion temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius and an electron temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius. Plans are underway for deuterium-tritium burning-plasma physics experiments on HL-3 by 2027.world-nuclear-news

Since the HL-3 was opened for international cooperation in 2024, more than 80 international scientists have participated, with over 260 proposals received and more than 100 papers published.world-nuclear-news

Engineering Bottlenecks Remain

While scientific feasibility of fusion has been verified, presenters acknowledged that "engineering bottlenecks remain the key challenge" and that "existing international mechanisms focus on R&D, lack dedicated frameworks for fusion engineering innovation, industrial collaboration and standard-setting."world-nuclear-news

"The next stage is the demonstration reactor — demonstrating commercially what has been validated. Only after that do we move to the commercial reactor phase," said Chen Zhe, Deputy Director of the Fusion Engineering Design Department at China Fusion Energy.interestingengineering