Latest news with #W7-X
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists achieve 'world first' by heating plasma to multimillion degree temperatures: 'Helping to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos'
A research team in Germany recently achieved what it called "a world first in fusion research," exciting the clean energy community, Interesting Engineering reported. The research team is part of the world's largest stellarator facility, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), where scientists have been hard at work developing a more efficient way to generate fusion energy. And now, they've finally achieved their goal, generating high-energy helium-3 ions for the first time. Nuclear fusion is the process of using force to merge two atomic nuclei. The act of combining these nuclei results in a tremendous release of energy, which provides a great deal of power that can be used for everything from fuel alternatives to electricity on a commercial scale. Fusion is a clean and naturally occurring means of energy generation; in fact, it's the primary type of power and reaction that creates the stars. And it doesn't generate polluting emissions the way other fuel sources do, appealing to climate advocates. Therefore, the more we can scale our usage of fusion, the cleaner and less overheated our planet's atmosphere will be. For fusion to happen, the process must be made more efficient. Fusion occurs inside a superheated plasma, which is kept at multimillion-degree temperatures. Traditionally, this fusion results in high-energy "alpha particles" (helium-4 nuclei), but those particles can be prone to escape, which can cool the plasma and halt the entire process. That's why the team focused on generating smaller, lower-energy particles, which could maintain the fusion process in a more manageable way. They did this using ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH). As Interesting Engineering explained, ICRH entails sending electromagnetic waves into plasma at "the specific frequency at which helium-3 ions naturally orbit around the magnetic field lines" in order to help the particles absorb energy. "This is similar to pushing a child on a swing: to be effective, each push must be precisely in tune with the swing's natural frequency — in other words, it must be in resonance," the scientists wrote in their press release. "This is the first time that high-energy helium-3 ions have been produced in a stellarator using ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH): a world first in fusion research." Researchers highlighted how the findings will also help them better understand how the sun works, as these same resonance processes used at W7-X may occur in nature. "These findings show that fusion science is not only shaping the future, but also helping to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos around us," the press release concluded. Should we be pouring money into nuclear fusion technology? Yes — it'll pay off It's worth exploring Not from our tax dollars No — it's a waste Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Korea Herald
20-06-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Faraday Factory Japan signed an agreement to deliver superconductor tape for the demo stellarator magnet of Proxima Fusion
Proxima Fusion's first-of-a-kind power plant Stellaris will use high temperature superconductor magnets to confine the burning plasma TOKYO, June 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Proxima Fusion and Faraday Factory Japan have signed a contract for the supply of high temperature superconducting (HTS) tape. This delivery will help the leading European stellarator developer Proxima Fusion to achieve its next milestone – a superconducting demo magnet. Stellarators are fusion machines which contain hot, ionized matter (plasma) within a magnetic field of remarkable strength and sophisticated geometry. Significant progress including the highest plasma triple product sustained for tens of seconds was attained recently with the W7-X stellarator, which is built and operated by the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) in Germany. Proxima Fusion, originally spun out from the IPP, is building on the record-breaking expertise of W7-X, combining it with advances in stellarator optimization, computational design and state-of-the-art HTS magnet technology. After completing delivering its demo magnet in 2027, Proxima will focus on the delivery of Alpha in 2031, Proxima's net-energy demo stellarator, followed by the first-of-a-kind commercial fusion power plant Stellaris in the 2030s. Timely supply of high-quality HTS tape is essential to keep fusion on fast track. While it takes thousands of kilometers of superconducting tape to build a typical energy-positive fusion prototype, scaling up the fusion industry to commercial power will require millions of kilometers. Since 2020, Faraday Factory has ramped up production by 10 times. The new HTS tape delivery contract is an important milestone, further strengthening the HTS supply chain for the nascent but transformative fusion industry.
Sustainability Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Sustainability Times
'Russia Rings the Alarm': U.S. Fusion Reactor Targeting 350 MW Triggers Kremlin Panic Over a New American Energy Superweapon
IN A NUTSHELL 🌟 Infinity Two is a groundbreaking stellarator fusion reactor designed to produce 350 megawatts of clean energy. is a groundbreaking stellarator fusion reactor designed to produce 350 megawatts of clean energy. 🤝 Collaboration with the Tennessee Valley Authority highlights the project's potential impact on the energy grid. highlights the project's potential impact on the energy grid. 🔍 The design underwent rigorous review by an expert panel, including prominent figures from the fusion energy field. ⚡ Infinity Two's efficient architecture aims for commercial viability with a focus on minimizing operational downtime. In a groundbreaking move towards sustainable energy, Type One Energy has made significant strides with its innovative 'Infinity Two' stellarator fusion reactor. As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change and energy shortages, the pursuit of clean and efficient energy sources has never been more critical. The Infinity Two design aims to deliver 350 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power thousands of homes, and represents a pivotal step forward in the commercialization of fusion energy. This development not only marks a milestone for the company but also sparks interest across the global energy sector, showcasing the potential of fusion power as a viable energy solution. Revolutionary Stellarator Fusion Technology The Infinity Two reactor's design heavily relies on stellarator fusion technology, a method proven to support stable and continuous operation on a large scale. This technology has been validated by experiments such as the W7-X machine, which has demonstrated the feasibility of steady-state fusion processes. The success of these experiments provides a solid foundation for Infinity Two, enhancing its potential as a reliable energy source for the future. Infinity Two's unique approach is based on the world's only implementable, peer-reviewed physics model for a fusion power plant. This model, published in the Journal of Plasma Physics, underlines the scientific rigor and credibility of the project. By utilizing this technology, Type One Energy aims to overcome the traditional challenges associated with fusion energy, such as maintaining continuous operation and achieving net positive energy output. 'U.S. Delivers a Monster': 60-Foot Superconducting Magnet Sent to France to Power the Heart of the ITER Fusion Reactor Collaborative Efforts and Industry Support The progress of Infinity Two has garnered attention from major players in the energy industry, including the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The collaboration with TVA is a testament to the reactor's potential impact on the energy grid. Several prominent energy utilities and industrial companies have expressed interest in participating in Type One Energy's deployment of its first-generation fusion power plant technology, highlighting the broader industry support for this initiative. Under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Sunn Pedersen, Type One Energy's Chief Technology Officer, the design underwent a comprehensive review by a panel of esteemed experts. This panel included figures like Dr. George H. 'Hutch' Neilson from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Dr. Paolo Ferroni from Westinghouse Electric Company. Their endorsement of the project as a serious contender in the fusion power plant arena underscores its potential to lead the way in commercial fusion energy. 'Fusion in a Bottle': Realta's Radical Reactor Design Could Finally Deliver Limitless Nuclear Power With Zero Carbon Emissions Efficient Design for Commercial Viability The architecture of Infinity Two emphasizes efficiency and practicality in its design. By focusing on a plant-level approach, Type One Energy addresses all necessary systems, not just the plasma core. This comprehensive strategy ensures that the reactor is not only technologically advanced but also commercially viable. Infinity Two's design proposes a two-year operating cycle, punctuated by 30-day maintenance periods, leveraging existing materials and technologies. This approach minimizes operational downtime and maximizes energy output, making it a competitive option in the energy market. The company's collaboration with firms like Atkins-Realis further strengthens its position, ensuring that the reactor meets the demands of the industry while adhering to stringent safety and efficiency standards. 'China Moves Decades Ahead': World's First Fusion-Fission Hybrid Reactor Set to Eclipse U.S. Efforts by 2030 The Future of Fusion Energy The successful design review of Infinity Two marks a critical turning point in the race for commercial fusion energy. By aligning its technology, architecture, and performance with market expectations, Type One Energy positions itself as a leader in the field. The potential benefits of fusion energy, with its promise of clean and abundant power, are immense, and Infinity Two represents a major step towards realizing these benefits. The global energy landscape is rapidly evolving, and the need for reliable, clean power generation technology is more pressing than ever. As Type One Energy continues to develop and refine its technology, the world watches with anticipation. Could Infinity Two be the key to unlocking the vast potential of fusion energy and reshaping our energy future? Our author used artificial intelligence to enhance this article. 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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.
Business Wire
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Type One Energy Completes Formal Initial Design Review of Fusion Power Plant
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Type One Energy announced today that it had successfully completed the first formal design review of Infinity Two, which is based on the world's only implementable, peer-reviewed physics basis for a fusion power plant recently published by the prestigious Journal of Plasma Physics. The Infinity Two design is progressing in support of a potential fusion power plant project with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), using Type One Energy stellarator technology. "It is the first serious fusion power plant design that I've seen,' said Dr. George H. 'Hutch' Neilson from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The Infinity Two design review board, which was chaired by Type One Energy Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Thomas Sunn Pedersen, included several outside experts, including Dr. George H. 'Hutch' Neilson from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Dr. Paolo Ferroni from the Westinghouse Electric Company, to provide independent assessments of the engineering work performed by Type One Energy. "It is the first serious fusion power plant design that I've seen,' said Dr. Neilson. 'The work they've done to date provides a sound foundation for continued design development of what could be the first system to produce net electricity from fusion." Dr. Ferroni, the Chief Engineer for Advanced Reactors – GenIV/Fusion at Westinghouse Electric Company, added 'I think it is important that the Type One Energy team is taking a comprehensive plant-level approach to develop their technology which includes a description of all necessary systems, not just the plasma core.' Successful completion of the initial design review confirms that the Infinity Two technology approach, architecture, performance, and reliability requirements remain aligned with the expectations of TVA and the broader global energy market for a commercially viable First of a Kind (FOAK) fusion power plant. The Type One Energy Infinity Two fusion power plant is being designed to put a nominal 350MWe on the electricity grid. This design is based on the company's groundbreaking stellarator fusion physics basis, which for the first time realistically considered, in a comprehensive and unified manner, the complex relationship between competing requirements for plasma performance, power plant startup, construction logistics, reliability, and economics utilizing actual power plant operating experience. The Journal of Plasma Physics considers this approach to be '… setting the gold standard for how this is done.' The Infinity Two architecture is grounded in stellarator fusion technology. This technology has, uniquely within the fusion industry, demonstrated stable, continuous steady-state operation at large scale by the W7-X machine. By properly architecting Infinity Two, Type One Energy is creating a proprietary fusion power plant design that supports a compelling 2-year power plant operating cycle separated by 30-day planned maintenance outages using today's existing materials and enabling technologies. The company also made use of its partner-rich commercialization program to access the power generation industry's deep expertise in power plant engineering design. Among other firms, Atkins-Realis assisted in developing the design of those Infinity Two systems and structures not part of Type One Energy's core focus on the stellarator fusion technology. 'Our ability to efficiently architect the initial Infinity Two design in an efficient, partner rich manner reaffirms our commitment to pursuing the lowest risk, shortest schedule, path to a commercially viable fusion power plant,' said Christofer Mowry, Chief Executive Officer for Type One Energy. 'The energy industry needs more reliable, clean, power generation technology that can meet the rapidly increasing demand for electricity and we are delivering a commercially compelling solution.' The progress Type One Energy is making on its Infinity Two fusion power plant design, together with its collaboration with TVA, has attracted the attention of the global energy industry. Several prominent energy utilities and industrial companies have expressed an interest in Infinity Two and participation in Type One Energy's deployment of its first-generation fusion power plant technology.
