"Magnetically Confined Fusion Burning Plasma" Selected as One of the Frontier Scientific Issues for 2026 by the China Association for Science and Technology

The main forum of the 28th Annual Meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) was held in Beijing on July 15. During the forum, a list of major scientific questions, engineering and technical challenges, and industrial technology issues for 2026 was released.

Since 2018, CAST has consistently organized initiatives to solicit and publish major scientific and technological challenges. For the 2026 edition, rigorous standards were applied regarding frontier nature, leadership, innovation, and strategic significance. Following a strict and standardized process of review, evaluation, and voting, ten frontier scientific questions, ten engineering and technical challenges, and ten industrial technology issues were selected, serving as a "bellwether" for the continuous generation of original and disruptive scientific and technological achievements.

Notably, "burning plasma in magnetic confinement nuclear fusion" was selected as one of CAST's frontier scientific questions for 2026.

Controlled nuclear fusion represents one of the ultimate solutions to meeting the energy demands of future economic and social development. Research into magnetic confinement fusion is entering a critical phase, moving toward "burning plasma"—where self-heating driven by alpha particles from deuterium-tritium fusion dominates—and the generation of net fusion power output. Addressing challenges such as energy and particle balance and the control of macroscopic and microscopic stability during the burning process, developing advanced operational scenarios and strategies for the efficient use of tritium fuel, achieving long-duration, stable, high-confinement operation dominated by alpha-particle heating, and overcoming associated scientific and engineering hurdles—such as extreme heat loads and tritium self-sufficiency—will directly drive the commercialization of fusion energy.