China fires up world’s biggest superconducting magnet for nuclear fusion project

SCMP | June 28, 2026, 6 a.m. | Original

The device, part of the CRAFT artificial sun reactor, sets new international benchmark in push for clean energy

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The team behind the superconducting magnet project celebrate the success of their tests on Saturday, capping years of work. Photo: Xinhua

The world’s biggest superconducting magnet for a nuclear fusion reactor has passed final tests as part of China’s CRAFT “artificial sun” project , eclipsing international performance benchmarks.

The assembly comprises two coils: a toroidal-field magnet that acts as a magnetic cage, and a central solenoid that serves as the igniter.

The results, achieved by researchers with the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, clear a major engineering hurdle on the path to confining a plasma hotter than the sun’s core , state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.

The project – the Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology – aims to create a miniature sun at over 100 million degrees Celsius (over 180 million Fahrenheit) and trap it inside a doughnut-shaped metal cage to generate electricity.

The magnetic cage, known as the CRAFT toroidal field coil, is a core component of the reactor.

It uses a strong magnetic field to prevent the container of the miniature sun from melting as the plasma inside reaches hundreds of millions of degrees.

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