Thermonuclear fusion with great progress. This is a major step towards commercializing cheap energy production

It has enormous potential, and the best proof of this is that this reaction is the primary source of energy for stars. Knowing this, engineers try to replicate fusion in laboratory conditions. It must be admitted that they are getting better at it. First in Last year Tokamak Energy Record temperatures were announced, but progress did not stop there.

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Recent improvements aim to allow a better understanding of the reactions that occur within reactors such as ST40. These types of devices use donut-shaped magnetic fields to control extremely hot plasma. When temperatures reach extreme temperatures, nuclear fusion reactions become possible.

When the amount of energy used to initiate and maintain fusion is less than that obtained in the process, scientists have reason to be happy. It so happens that there are more and more such reasons in recent years. A positive energy balance is a reality, although it must be clearly emphasized that we are still far from the efficiency that should allow us to meet humanity’s energy needs.

Fusion offers hope for a future in which energy can be produced cheaply, efficiently, and with virtually no emissions

The ST40 is equipped with a magnet that operates in high magnetic fields exceeding 2 Tesla. This reactor has recently been modernized, thanks to which it maintains hot plasma more effectively. The magnetic field redirects the port to a dedicated transducer area, which is responsible for removing heat and foreign particles. In this way, the overall efficiency of the entire reaction increases.

In addition, members of the ST40 development team have installed an infrared camera which will enable the power load distribution within the transformer to be measured. All this in order to control the plasma more effectively, which over the years has turned out to be more important than originally expected. As it turned out, the changes introduced brought better results than expected. The modern device not only controlled the plasma more effectively, but also took longer.

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It is also worth paying attention to achieving maintenance of the so-called high shutdown mode. In this case, the plasma is controlled more efficiently, turbulence is reduced and heat retention is higher. They even experimented with generating electricity using methods beyond the usual techniques. This is all to ensure that the launch of the ST40 tokamak, scheduled for 2024, goes as smoothly as possible. Is this the end of the modifications? not necessarily.