Latest news with #ThomasKlinger
News.com.au
10-07-2025
- Science
- News.com.au
Major breakthrough brings world one step closer to achieving clean energy
We're one step closer to a cleaner world. In a remarkable advancement, scientists have set a new record in nuclear fusion performance. The breakthrough was achieved at the Wendelstein 7-X reactor, an advanced fusion stellarator located in Germany. Scientists recorded the impressive high triple product — a key metric the number of particles, temperature and energy confinement time essential for self-sustaining fusion reactions — which it sustained for 43 seconds. While it may not seem like much, it's a huge leap for the process and a big step towards clean, safe and virtually limitless energy. 'The new record is a tremendous achievement by the international team,' Thomas Klinger, head of operations at Wendelstein 7-X, said in a statement. 'Elevating the triple product to tokamak levels during long plasma pulses marks another important milestone on the way toward a power-plant-capable stellarator.' The advancement made at the Wendelstein 7-X reactor is another to the list of breakthroughs that brings the world a significant step closer to a world with clean energy. The importance of nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is the process by which two atomic nuclei fuse together, which unleashes large amounts of energy. It's a process that can happen naturally - for instance, in stars such as the sun. The sun is fuelled by hydrogen atoms that are fused together to create helium and other heavy elements that expel huge amounts of energy. In this case, the energy is the heat and light we experience from Earth. Since the theory of nuclear fusion was understood in the 1930s, scientists have been on a mission to recreate and harness it. Why? Well, it's often regarded as the 'holy grail' of energy production. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear fusion generates four times more energy per kilogram of fuel than nuclear fission (the process by which a heavy atomic nucleus is split into smaller nuclei, currently used in nuclear power plants), and releases four million times more energy than using coal, oil, or gas. That means that on Earth, if it can be reproduced, it has the potential to provide clean, safe, and affordable energy in quantities that could service humanity's future needs and solve the climate crisis. When can it actually be achieved? The timeline for nuclear fission to be achieved on Earth depends on several factors. Nuclear fission research is currently carried out across more than 50 countries, and the recent breakthrough at the Wendelstein 7-X is a testament to the international collaboration required for making advancements in scientific research. To achieve the end goal of clean energy requires further global collaboration and partnership. Another issue the industry faces is the development of the necessary infrastructure to support this energy source. In December 2023, the world's biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor was launched in Japan. A joint project between the European Union and Japan, the goal of the JT-60SA reactor was to further research the possibility of fusion as a source of net energy. EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said the JT-60SA was 'a milestone for fusion history'.
NDTV
07-06-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Scientists Smash Nuclear Fusion Record, Igniting Hope For Limitless Clean Energy
Scientists in Germany have taken a giant leap towards producing near-limitless, clean energy using nuclear fusion -- the same fiery reaction that takes place in the core of the Sun. Using the Wendelstein 7-X nuclear fusion reactor, the researchers managed to sustain the fusion experiment for an impressive 43 seconds, smashing the previous records, according to a report in LiveScience. Developing nuclear fusion for energy requirements has long been a goal of scientists but reaching temperatures over 100 million degrees Celsius and sustaining its long-term operation has always proved a challenge. Moreover, current reactor concepts consume more energy than they are able to produce. However, using the machine with extremely low-density and electrically charged hydrogen gas as fuel, scientists managed to achieve the breakthrough. Wendelstein 7-X, officially called a 'stellarator', is a type of fusion device that confines hot, charged gas, known as plasma, with powerful external magnets controlling it. On May 22, plasma inside Wendelstein 7-X was raised to over 20 million Celsius, reaching a peak of 30 million Celsius. It also reached a new record high triple product, a key metric for the success of fusion power generators. The triple product is a combination of the density of particles in the plasma, the temperature required for these particles to fuse, and the energy confinement time. "The new record is a tremendous achievement by the international team. Elevating the triple product to tokamak levels during long plasma pulses marks another important milestone on the way toward a power-plant-capable stellarator," said Thomas Klinger, Head of Operations at Wendelstein 7-X. Notably, the highest values for the triple product were achieved by the Japanese Tokamak JT60U (decommissioned in 2008) and the European Tokamak facility JET in Great Britain (decommissioned in 2023). Holy grail Scientists regard nuclear fusion as the holy grail of energy. It is what powers our Sun as atomic nuclei are merged to create massive amounts of energy, which is the opposite of the fission process used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, where the heavy atom is split into multiple smaller ones. Last year, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion energy reactor, dubbed China's 'artificial sun', sustained plasma for a whopping 1,000 seconds, breaking the 403-second record it set in 2023. Unlike fission, fusion emits no greenhouse gases and carries less risk of accidents or the theft of atomic material. By mimicking the natural reaction of the sun, scientists are hoping that the technology may help harness near-unlimited amounts of energy and help battle the energy crisis, as well as power humanity's exploration beyond the solar system
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Nuclear fusion record smashed as German scientists take 'a significant step forward' to near-limitless clean energy
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A recently concluded experimental campaign at the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany has smashed previous fusion records and set a new benchmark for reactor performances. Nuclear fusion offers a tantalizing promise of unlimited clean energy. By smashing together isotopes (or different versions) of hydrogen at incredibly high temperatures, the resulting superheated plasma of electrons and ions fuses into heavier atoms, releasing a phenomenal amount of energy in the process. However, while this fusion reaction is self-sustaining under the extraordinary temperatures and pressures within stars, recreating these conditions on Earth is a huge technical challenge — and current reactor concepts still consume more energy than they are able to produce. Stellarators are one of the most promising reactor designs, so named for their mimicry of reactions in the sun. They use powerful external magnets to control the high-energy plasma within a ring-shaped vacuum chamber and maintain a stable, high pressure. Unlike simpler tokamak reactors — which pass a high current through the plasma to generate the required magnetic field — stellarators' external magnets are better at stabilizing the plasma through the fusion reactions, a feature that will ultimately be necessary when translating the technology to commercial power plants. In the recent experiments, the W7-X stellarator outperformed previous benchmarks set by the decommissioned tokamak reactors JT60U in Japan and JET in the UK, especially over how long the plasma can be sustained. Related: Nuclear fusion could be the clean energy of the future Most notably, the international team revealed that the reactor had reached a new record high triple product — a key metric for the success of fusion power generators. The triple product is a combination of the density of particles in the plasma, the temperature required for these particles to fuse, and the energy confinement time (a measure of how well the thermal energy is held by the system). A certain minimum value called the Lawson criterion marks the point at which the reaction produces more energy than it uses and becomes self-sustaining, so a higher triple product indicates a more efficient reaction. "The new record is a tremendous achievement by the international team," said Thomas Klinger, Head of Operations at Wendelstein 7-X and Head of Stellarator Dynamics and Transport at IPP in a statement. "Elevating the triple product to tokamak levels during long plasma pulses marks another important milestone on the way toward a power-plant-capable stellarator." Key to the success of this latest milestone was the development of a new fuel pellet injector that combined continuous refueling of the reactor with pulsed heating to maintain the required plasma temperature. Over a 43-second period, 90 frozen hydrogen pellets were fired into the plasma at up to 2,600 feet (800 metres) per second, roughly the speed of a bullet. Pre-programmed pulses of powerful microwaves heated the plasma, which reached a peak temperature of 30 million degrees C, and this coordination between the microwave pulses and the pellet injection crucially extended how long the plasma could be stably maintained. RELATED STORIES —Physicists solve nuclear fusion mystery with mayonnaise —There's 90,000 tons of nuclear waste in the US. How and where is it stored? —Just a fraction of the hydrogen hidden beneath Earth's surface could power Earth for 200 years, scientists find This same campaign also increased the energy turnover of the reaction to 1.8 gigajoules over a six-minute run, smashing the reactor's previous record of 1.3 gigajoules from February 2023. Energy turnover is a combination of the heating power and plasma duration of a fusion reactor and an indication of the reactor's ability to sustain the high-energy plasma. It is therefore another crucial parameter for future power plant operation. The new value even exceeds the record achieved by the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in China earlier this year, further evidencing stellarators' potential. "The records of this experimental campaign are much more than mere numbers. They represent a significant step forward in validating the stellarator concept—made possible through outstanding international collaboration," summarized Robert Wolf, Head of Stellarator Heating and Optimization at IPP in statement.
