Key Breakthroughs Achieved in Development of Core Equipment for BEST Compact Fusion Energy Test Facility

Recently, at a critical juncture in the all-out sprint toward the “double-half” goals, the development of two core components of the compact fusion energy test facility (BEST) main machine equipment——the vacuum vessel and the mid-plane thermal shield——undertaken by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group and manufactured by No.1 Machine Tool Plant, has achieved successive milestone results. Multiple key manufacturing tasks have been successfully completed and delivered upon acceptance, marking that the development of BEST main machine core equipment has fully entered the critical stage of tackling difficulties and accelerating the sprint, laying a solid foundation for high-quality project delivery.

As the core key equipment of the compact fusion energy test facility, the BEST vacuum vessel and mid-plane thermal shield feature complex structures, extremely high precision requirements, and difficult manufacturing processes. Since the project launch, in the face of stringent technical standards, tight production schedules, and complex manufacturing procedures, No.1 Machine Tool Plant has resolutely shouldered the mission and responsibility of a state-owned enterprise, anchored on the project's key objectives, empowered major project construction through Party building leadership, and promoted the deep integration of Party building work with the implementation of major strategies, tackling of key projects, and improvement of production management.

To efficiently advance project implementation, the Party Committee of No.1 Machine Tool Plant has incorporated the BEST vacuum vessel and thermal shield projects into the political supervision checklist and the “three-level secretaries responsibility checklist” special work list, establishing a working mechanism featuring unified leadership by the Party Committee, command and tackling by management, and precise implementation by dedicated teams. By concentrating superior technical and production resources, refining construction plans, optimizing process interfaces, and consolidating job responsibilities, the plant has provided all-round support for improving project quality and efficiency and accelerating the sprint, driving the high-quality advancement of major equipment development through high-quality Party building, and fully leveraging the role of Party organizations as fighting fortresses and Party members as vanguards in major tasks.

In this phase of milestone tackling, the project team focused on core technical difficulties such as machining precision control and assembly forming, continuously deepening process optimization and technological innovation. Among these, a major breakthrough was achieved in the development of the second 1/8 sector of the BEST vacuum vessel. The technical team repeatedly refined the machining process and precisely overcame high-precision machining challenges. While ensuring product quality and strictly controlling all technical parameters to meet standards, the machining cycle was significantly shortened, efficiently accomplishing the phased climbing and tackling goals. Currently, this component has successfully passed comprehensive acceptance and has been officially delivered to the project site, fulfilling the owner's commitments with strong performance capability.

Meanwhile, the third 1/8 sector of the BEST mid-plane thermal shield has successfully completed the full set of in-factory assembly operations, achieving the complete ring assembly of the vacuum vessel thermal shield and the lower port thermal shield. The successful completion of this full in-factory ring assembly effectively resolved the difficulties in assembling complex structures, accumulated valuable complete-set assembly experience, and cleared the key process for overall equipment integrated assembly.

The BEST facility, designed under the leadership of the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and constructed by Fusion New Energy (Anhui) Co., Ltd., is located in Hefei Future Science City. It is a key facility specially built by China to fill the engineering gap between the “experimental reactor” and the “demonstration reactor.” Currently, nuclear fusion energy has been incorporated into the national “15th Five-Year Plan” outline as a key direction for future industries. The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is precisely the strategic critical period for China's fusion technology to transition comprehensively from scientific experimentation to engineering and industrialization.

The successive milestone progress achieved by these two core components is an important practice of the Nuclear Power Group in focusing on high-end equipment manufacturing and deepening its presence in the frontier field of fusion energy, and it is also a vivid epitome of the entire project team's efforts in striving for the “double-half” goals and demonstrating responsibility through practical action. In the next step, the Nuclear Power Group will closely coordinate with the design institute and the project owner, maintain the momentum of tackling difficulties, stay anchored on annual goals without relaxation, accelerate project construction with a tenacious attitude of overcoming difficulties, and strive to successfully complete all development tasks of the BEST project at an early date, contributing the strength of state-owned enterprises to China's controllable nuclear fusion technology R&D and the high-quality development of the new energy industry.