According to SCMP, Professor Song Yuntao - one of the project's leading scientists - told local media at a carbon control conference in Beijing that the construction of a nuclear reactors could be completed by the early 2030s if Beijing backs it.
Thermal technology, also known as artificial sunlight, can provide an endless source of clean energy by simulating the nuclear thermal process in the sun - despite requiring complex techniques and high costs.
The government has asked scientists to prepare for the China Thermal External Trade Union (CSETR) experimental reactor, including designing and building a large testing facility in the city of Hop Phi. But Professor Song Yuntao, director of the Plasma Physics Institute in Hop Phi, told the Beijing News that the project is still awaiting final approval.
The goal of the project is to CFETR become the first facility to produce thermal electricity for the nuclear synthesis reaction. The challenge of this activity is controlling an extremely hot gas, hydrogen, with the temperature inside the reactor expected to reach or exceed 100 million degrees Celsius.
In the initial phase of operation, CFETR is designed to generate a stable electricity output of 200 megawatt, equivalent to the capacity of a small coal-fired thermal power plant.
China's thermal reactor may not be the first in the world, as the International Thermal Power Experimental reactor (ITER) in southern France is set to be completed and put into operation in 2025.
After many delays since its inception in 2007, ITER has become the most expensive international science project in history, costing countries involved - including China - from 45 to 65 billion USD. Although ITER will make the idea of an artificial sun come true for the first time, the heat it generates cannot be sustained to create enough energy for power generation, as the Chinese reactor's goal is.
Professor Song said that China and other countries are supporting and closely following the progress in France, while using the knowledge and technology developed for ITER to enhance China's own thermal reactor projects - and the race to build artificial suns is heating up.
According to Professor Song, the US plans to produce electricity using pilot nuclear power plants built by the government and private companies between 2035 and 2040. The UK proposes commercializing synthetic nuclear energy by 2040.
China's enthusiastic research began with Russian hardware and technology, but Beijing has taken the lead in this field in recent years, according to Professor Song.
In May, a simulator in Hop Phi created a plasma burning at 150 million degrees Celsius that was maintained at a stable level for more than 100 seconds, setting a world record. Scientists have limited hot air which is highly unpredictable and can destroy anything it touches by a powerful magnet created by a superconductor.
Professor Song said that the next goal of the project is to increase the burning time to 400 and then 1,000 seconds. According to him, the work also brings benefits in other fields. He said that thanks to advances in heat-intsh research, China's capacity to produce hypersonic materials has increased 10,000 times.
Superconductors are needed in many fields, from transportation to medical equipment, and increasing output helps reduce their cost significantly. About 60 to 70% of overseas superconducting materials are purchased from China.
The Chinese government plans to start construction of a series of thermal power plants before 2060 - the deadline to meet the country's carbon neutrality goal.
