$2.7 billion project in Jiangxi province has entered ‘first phase’, says Hong Kong report
China is poised to start building the world’s first fusion-fission hybrid nuclear power plant, with the goal of generating 100 MW of continuous electricity and connecting to the grid by the end of the decade.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said the project to build the 20-billion-yuan ($2.76bn, €2.56bn) Xinghuo high-temperature superconducting reactor has entered its first phase with a public tender for an environmental impact assessment, according to zbytb.com, a platform that aggregates bidding and procurement information in China.
The facility will be built on Yaohu Science Island in the hi-tech zone of Nanchang, Jiangxi province, in central China, according to the tender. The environmental report will include baseline studies, impact evaluations on air, water, noise and ecology, as well as risk analyses, pollution control measures and monitoring plans.
Xinghuo, or spark, comes from the Mao Zedong quote: “A single spark can start a prairie fire.”
The South China, Morning Post said the project is a joint venture between the state-owned China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Corporation and Lianovation Superconductor, a spin-off from Lianovation Optoelectronics in Jiangxi.
It said thetimeline for Xinghuo’s construction remains undisclosed. However, its environmental impact assessment is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
A 2021 development plan from Jiangxi province set a goal for the demonstration and application of the hybrid project by 2030.
According to a 2023 collaboration agreement, the Xinghuo reactor aims for an energy gain factor, or Q value, of more than 30. This Q value measures the ratio of thermal power output to the energy input required to heat the plasma in a fusion reaction.
In contrast, the world’s largest global fusion experiment, the €20bn International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) nuclear fusion project at Cadarache in the south of France, aims for a Q value above 10. The US National Ignition Facility achieved a Q value of 1.5 in 2022, meaning the energy output was 1.5 times greater than the input.
Replicating The Sun’s Processes On Earth
Unlike pure fusion projects such as Iter, Xinghuo will combine fusion and fission. The high-energy neutrons from fusion reactions will trigger fission in surrounding materials, increasing energy output while potentially reducing nuclear waste.
For decades, scientists across the globe have attempted to replicate the Sun’s nuclear fusion processes in hopes of providing humanity with a limitless, clean energy source.
Commercial nuclear reactors in operation today are fission reactors. Fission and fusion are both nuclear processes that involve splitting or combining atoms to release energy. The main difference between the two is the type of atoms involved. Fission splits a heavy atom into lighter atoms. Fusion combines two light atoms into a heavier atom.
In January Chinese scientists said they achieved a new milestone in the pursuit of viable power generation through nuclear fusion.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was quoted by China’s state media as saying its pioneering experimental nuclear reactor, dubbed the “artificial Sun”, maintained a steady, highly confined loop of plasma – the high-energy fourth state of matter – for 1,066 seconds on 20 January.
The reactor, officially known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (East), beat its previous record operating time of 403 seconds, set in April 2023, CAS said. East is part of China’s contribution to Iter.
