What’s New

Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator began a new experimental campaign in September, bringing together scientists from around the world to advance research into high-performance plasmas and long-pulse operation in stellarators.

The OP2.4 campaign, scheduled to run through mid-December, builds on previous achievements in plasma confinement and sustained operation. Among the participants are EUROfusion researchers from approximately 20 European laboratories, whose contributions focus on three priorities: achieving hotter, denser and better-confined plasmas; improving understanding of fast-ion behaviour and turbulence; and extending high-power plasma discharges.

One ambitious objective is to sustain discharges lasting more than 500 seconds, with an energy throughput of 6 gigajoules.

Unlike tokamaks, stellarators use a complex, three-dimensional magnetic field to confine plasma without requiring a strong plasma current. The results of the campaign will help improve physics models and inform the development of future stellarator-based fusion power plants.

Read the full article on the EUROfusion website.

--Photo: MPI for Plasma Physics, Jan Michael Hosan