CHENGDU -- The HL-2M Tokamak, China's next-generation "artificial sun," is expected to be operational in 2020 as installation work has gone smoothly since the delivery of the coil system in June.

Designed to replicate the natural reactions that occur in the sun using hydrogen and deuterium gases as fuels, the device aims at providing clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion.

The new apparatus, with a more advanced structure and control mode, is expected to generate plasmas hotter than 200 million C, said Duan Xuru, head of the Southwestern Institute of Physics under the China National Nuclear Corporation.

Duan was quoted at the ongoing 2019 China Fusion Energy Conference held in Leshan, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The artificial sun will provide key technical support for China's participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, as well as the self-designing and building of fusion reactors, he noted.