Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • Disruption mitigation | Final design review is a major step forward

    The generations of physicists, engineers, technicians and other specialists who have worked in nuclear fusion share a common goal, dedication and responsibility [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | Like grasping a bowl of cereal

    Contrary to the vast majority of ITER machine components, the modules that form the central solenoid cannot be lifted by way of hooks and attachments. The 110-t [...]

    Read more

  • Education | 13th ITER International School announced

    The 13th ITER International School (IIS) will be held from 9 to 13 December in Nagoya hosted by National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), Japan. The subject [...]

    Read more

  • Open Doors Day | Having fun while discovering ITER

    A public event on Saturday 13 April draws a big crowd. It was a beautiful, summer-like day on Saturday 13 April. Perfect for a journey into ITER. Nearly 800 mem [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion world | Increased awareness in a changing landscape

    The world of fusion research is changing fast, and world leaders are taking notice. The large public projects that occupied centre stage for the past decades ar [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Fusion world

Wendelstein 7-X resumes operation

The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator is up and running again, following a shutdown phase dedicated to equipping the machine for longer discharges and higher heating power.

A plasma discharge in the upgraded Wendelstein 7-X stellarator — not your usual D-shaped tokamak plasma... Photo: IPP/Wigner RCP (coloured black-and-white photo) (Click to view larger version...)
A plasma discharge in the upgraded Wendelstein 7-X stellarator — not your usual D-shaped tokamak plasma... Photo: IPP/Wigner RCP (coloured black-and-white photo)
The world's largest fusion device of the stellarator type is back in action. Plasma experiments have resumed after a 15-month shutdown phase, during which over 8,000 graphite wall tiles and ten divertor modules were installed in the plasma vessel. This high-tech cladding that will protect the vessel walls and allow higher temperatures and plasma discharges lasting 10 seconds.

The geometry of the new divertor, with plasma-facing tiles that conform exactly to the twisting contour of the plasma edge, is considered power plant relevant for the first time—particularly in the ratio of the divertor area to the plasma volume.

"We are therefore very excited that we are now able to investigate whether the divertor concept of an optimized stellarator can really work properly," says Project Head Professor Thomas Klinger.

All ten microwave transmitters of the microwave heating system have been brought on line, which will permit higher density and higher temperature plasmas and lead possibly to the enhanced thermal insulation of the plasma in the optimized device. New diagnostic instruments will also allow the observation of plasma turbulence for the first time.

The goal of the Wendelstein 7-X project is to investigate the suitability of the stellarator type of fusion device for a continuous-operation fusion power plant. Following the conclusion of main assembly in 2014 at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany, the machine achieved its first helium plasma in December 2015 and its first hydrogen plasma in February 2016.

 
Read the full press release on the IPP website.

return to the latest published articles