Southwestern Institute of Physics, a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), founded the Sino-French Atomic Fusion Joint Research Center on Jan 12 along with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission or CEA, China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center, and Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This is yet another move by CNNC to actively implement the consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries. The center also further promotes the nuclear energy cooperation between China and France, creating a brand new chapter in the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in the field of fusion energy.

CNNC has managed to have tight cooperation with the French counterparts all long, and the two sides have been cooperating for more than 20 years in the field of atomic fusion. In particular, the two parties have utilized China’s HL-2A and France’s Tore-supra equipment to conduct extensive communication in controlling, diagnosing, heating and simulating the nuclear fusion plasma, and jointly building a laboratory for nuclear fusion research.