(Yicai Global) Nov. 26 -- China's new generation of controlled nuclear fusion reactors, the HL-2M tokamak, should be ready next year and will supply key technical support to France's International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, the world's largest fusion experiment of which China is a key participant.

Construction is underway at the China National Nuclear Corporation's research base in Chengdu, Sichuan province and work is progressing smoothly, Xinhua New Agency reported today. The improved tokamak, an apparatus for producing controlled fusion reactions in hot gas, has higher parameters and operates with a more advanced working mode than previous models.

Dubbed 'China's artificial sun,' the HL-2M can generate plasma at a record-breaking 200 million degrees Celsius, over 10 times greater than the center of the sun, said Duan Xuru, president of the Southwestern Institute of Physics. By replicating the nuclear fusion process that occurs naturally in the sun and stars, it is designed to provide almost infinite clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion.

Scientific research conducted by the HL-2M will be a main technical support to ITER, possibly the world's most complex science project with more than 10 million parts. An international consortium led by CNNC was chosen in July to install the core equipment close to the reactor. This is the first large international nuclear project for China.