China's nuclear fusion device gets pure alloy for super magnets

China has made a significant advancement in its nuclear fusion “artificial sun” program by developing a domestically produced, ultra-pure Hastelloy C276 alloy substrate critical for manufacturing the super magnets used in fusion reactors. Previously reliant on costly imports, Chinese researchers at the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences overcame key processing challenges to produce a metallic strip over 2,000 meters long and extremely thin, with impurity levels lower than imported equivalents. This substrate serves as the mechanical and structural foundation for high-temperature superconducting tapes that generate the powerful magnetic fields needed to confine plasma at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius in fusion devices. This breakthrough addresses a major strategic bottleneck for China’s Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST), an ambitious fusion project under construction in Hefei and expected to be completed by 2027. BEST aims to become the first device in history to generate electricity from nuclear fusion. The new alloy demonstrates exceptional tensile strength and