The UK’s experimental fusion energy facility has deployed 3D magnetic coils that have been shown to stabilise the key reaction needed to make fusion power a commercial reality.
Scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) conducted the experiment at the MAST Upgrade, located at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire.
In fusion energy research, plasma – superheated gas containing charged particles – needs to be controlled very precisely, as it can become unstable and escape the magnetic fields that contain it. The 3D magnetic coils help to keep the plasma stable in a way that traditional 2D magnetic fields cannot.
The team believes that the innovation could make it easier to achieve sustained controlled nuclear fusion – a potential source of clean energy – and is a big step forward in fusion research.
MAST Upgrade is the world’s largest operating spherical tokamak; it is designed in the shape of a cored apple, unlike other, ring-shaped tokamaks. The findings were part...