While Alaska lawmakers dither over gasline, China races to build an ‘artificial sun’

By THE ALASKA STORY

Aug. 5, 2026 – While the Alaska Legislature continues to dither over tax policy and labor mandates tied to a natural gas pipeline that has been discussed for decades, China is moving rapidly toward an entirely new frontier of energy production.

Chinese scientists have completed and tested a 582-ton superconducting magnet for the country’s next-generation fusion reactor, a major engineering milestone in Beijing’s effort to build what researchers call an “artificial sun.”

The massive, doughnut-shaped magnet was developed by the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei and is intended for China’s Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak, known as BEST.

The magnet was tested June 27 after approximately six years of development, according to Forbes, which describes it as the largest superconducting magnet ever constructed for a fusion reactor.

China says every major component and manufacturing process involved in the project was developed domestically, reducing its dependence on Western technology and suppliers.

“From core raw materials such as superconducting tapes, high-strength cryogenic stainless steel and special insulation materials, to the complete set of processes including structural design, precision winding, ultra-low-resistance joint fabrication and quench protection, we have completely broken foreign technological monopolies and achieved 100 percent localization,” Song Yuntao, director-general of the Institute of Plasma Physics, told China’s state-owned Global Times.

The enormous magnet will create the powerful magnetic field needed to confine plasma heated to more than 100 million degrees Celsius. Because no physical material could contain plasma at those temperatures, the superheated gas must be suspended inside the reactor by magnetic forces.

Fusion seeks to reproduce the process that powers the sun by joining light atomic nuclei and releasing tremendous amounts of energy. Unlike conventional nuclear fission, which splits atoms, fusion holds out the possibility of producing enormous quantities of electricity with no carbon emissions and relatively little long-lived radioactive waste.

But after more than 70 years of research, no country or company has yet operated a commercially viable fusion power plant. Scientists still must demonstrate that a reactor can reliably produce more usable energy than the entire facility consumes.

China nevertheless is setting an aggressive pace. Its BEST reactor is expected to begin operating later this decade, with the country aiming to demonstrate a meaningful fusion-energy gain around 2030. China also operates the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, or EAST, which has repeatedly set records for sustaining extremely hot plasma.

China entered the fusion competition later than many Western nations, but its rapid construction schedule and government-backed investments have allowed it to close the gap. Large fusion magnets historically have taken as long as a decade to move from design through final testing. China completed its 582-ton magnet in about six years.

The international ITER fusion project under construction in France, meanwhile, has experienced years of delays and cost overruns. ITER’s current schedule calls for research operations to begin in 2034, full magnetic-energy operations in 2036 and fusion experiments using deuterium and tritium beginning in 2039, according to the ITER organization.

The United States is leaning more heavily on private companies and partnerships with national laboratories.

The Trump administration’s Department of Energy announced $134 million for two programs designed to link private fusion developers with universities and federal laboratories. The funding includes $128 million for Fusion Innovative Research Engine collaborative teams and $6.1 million for 20 Innovation Network for Fusion Energy projects.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, DOE is unleashing the next frontier of American energy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said when the awards were announced. “Fusion power holds the promise of limitless, reliable, American-made energy—and programs like INFUSE and FIRE ensure our innovators have the tools, talent, and partnerships to make it a reality.” The announcement was made in September 2025.

American technology companies are also placing major bets on fusion as artificial intelligence and massive data centers drive electricity demand higher.

Microsoft has agreed to purchase at least 50 megawatts from Helion Energy’s planned Orion fusion plant in Chelan County, Washington. Helion says initial operations are scheduled for 2028, although the company still must prove that its technology can generate commercial electricity.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is Helion’s largest individual investor.

Google has invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems and signed an agreement to purchase 200 megawatts from the company’s planned ARC power plant in Virginia. Commonwealth expects that plant to begin supplying the grid in the early 2030s.

The growing fusion race underscores a reality Alaska’s political class has been slow to confront: Energy development does not wait for endless political process.

China is building one of the largest and most sophisticated magnetic systems ever constructed. American companies are raising billions and breaking ground on experimental power plants. Technology companies are signing agreements for electricity that has not yet been commercially produced.

In Alaska, lawmakers remain deadlocked over the fiscal terms for a pipeline that would deliver a resource the state already possesses in extraordinary abundance.

Fusion may or may not achieve commercial success on the timelines being advertised. Alaska’s natural gas, however, is real, proven and waiting. The longer the Legislature delays establishing workable terms for the Alaska LNG project, the greater the risk that global energy technology—and global energy markets—will move ahead without Alaska.