Company ENN announced in late September 2026 that its spherical toroidal reactor Xuanlong-50U (EXL-50U) was able to achieve hydrogen-boron fusion (proton-boron) reaction using its own equipment. According to sources IT Home and Securities Times, this is the first such claim from commercial companies developing thermonuclear reactors.
According to ENN data, the registered hydrogen-boron reaction rate exceeded 10^8 per second. This result was achieved by combining the injection of a high-energy neutral beam with radiofrequency waves, which allowed for an increase in the fraction of fast protons in a non-equilibrium state near the first resonance peak.
The company and media outlets covering it present this experiment as the first magnetic confinement launch in China utilizing advanced aneutronic fuel elements (hydrogen-boron, deuterium-helium-3) within a commercial pathway, where the main product is helium alpha particles, not neutrons.
An expert group cited by ENN noted that the proton spectra and the detection of alpha particles on the spherical torus were sufficiently effective and reproducible to confirm the reaction as a research stage.
Hydrogen-boron fusion is attractive due to its aneutronic operation and fuel availability, but it requires higher temperatures and triple product conditions compared to deuterium-tritium routes. ENN has identified five technical areas of work: increasing the reaction rate to ignition and gain stage, developing high-parameter technology for industrial installations, methods for achieving high plasma temperature, direct conversion of alpha particles into direct current, and applying synthesis-oriented AI to accelerate R&D and ensure stable operation.
Previously, information about megaampere hydrogen-boron plasmas and 1.2 T field containment based on EXL-50U was published on the institute's English website.
The company's roadmap is specific: the target reaction rate achievement by the end of 2026 was reached ahead of schedule. The Helong-2 reactor (EHL-2) is under active construction, with completion scheduled for the end of 2027, aiming for 'first light' by 2030. Stable high-power generation is planned by 2035. However, the substance of this technical review remains balanced: it concerns reaching the reaction rate stage and the device roadmap, not that commercial energy is already operational.