[sballin]

Fusion grad student here. HL-2M is very similar to the US DIII-D reactor in size, magnetic field strength, and plasma current. HL-2M will have 11 MW of heating power in its first stage compared to 23 MW on DIII-D according to Wikipedia, though this will likely be upgraded. But consider the fact that DIII-D was built in 1986.

JET, currently operating in the UK, is the tokamak closest to producing more fusion power than absorbed heating power. It would be a nice surprise if it achieved this in its upcoming research program using deuterium-tritium fuel. But to reliably pass this milestone and get closer to producing electricity, we need to build tokamaks bigger, like ITER, or with a stronger magnetic field, like SPARC. Neither one will produce electricity, but they will allow us to study the potentially different plasma environment and materials issues at high fusion power.

Electricity-producing tokamaks are in the extremely early conceptual design phase (DEMO, ARC) and will require much more research on tritium breeding and materials that can withstand insane levels of heating and irradiation.

HL-2M specs (paywalled): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.06.106

[Havoc]

Great comment. Nice to see a 20 second summary of where we (humanity) is on this currently