Start-up of the new OLMAT facility
On July 2 the installation of the OLMAT facility (Optimization of Advanced Liquid Metal Targets) at the National Fusion Laboratory was completed. The facility is the only one of its kind in Spain and one of the few existing in Europe. It can be used to test materials, both solid and liquid, under extreme heat […]
Croatian support for the DONES project
DONES is the first ESFRI project in which Croatia plays a key role and the second most important device in a large international fusion energy project, right after ITER. In 2018, DONES was included among the ESFRI projects, strategically important for the EU, as a Spanish-Croatian initiative. Google Translate this article
New insights in Super-X divertor region
A new, multi-wavelength imaging (MWI) camera diagnostic fitted on MAST Upgrade, will offer scientists a picture of the impact that the machine’s Super X divertor design has on the hot, charged plasma.
A cooled exhaust for Wendelstein 7-X
Thanks to a newly-installed actively-cooled exhaust, the German stellarator Wendelstein 7-X at IPP Greifswald will be able to maintain its fusion plasma for up to 30 minutes – a fusion milestone.
Science from decommissioned experiment RFX-mod
Is it possible to obtain scientific data from a machine that has been disassembled since 2016? The team of the RFX Consortium believes so. Read the original article in Italian Google Translate this article
Interview Marco de Baar: a bumpy way up
Marco de Baar always knew that he would eventually hold a senior position in research. But he never thought this would be possible at DIFFER, the institute that he has called his home since 2007. Nevertheless, he is now DIFFER’s scientific director, albeit in a challenging year.
Europe ready to prove the fabrication of Test Blanket Modules
DEMO, the fusion device that will follow ITER, will need to re-generate the tritium consumed during the reaction. In order to achieve this, it will be equipped with a breeding blanket that will generate tritium as the neutrons from the fusion reaction touch its surface. They will also extract the thermal power produced by the plasma so that it can be used later to produce electricity. Although ITER will not be self-sufficient in tritium, it will provide a unique opportunity to test mock-ups of different breeding blanket concepts.
Wendelstein 7-X upgrading for next experimental campaign
An upgrade to the optimized stellarator fusion experiment Wendelstein 7-X at IPP in Greifswald, Germany will make it possible to stretch plasma discharges at high heating power to half an hour in duration.
Digital twins for fusion plasmas
A recent publication from Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) on the theoretical prediction of a novel transport barrier in a fusion plasma and its subsequent experimental confirmation (Physical Review Letters) exemplifies how dramatically the power of plasma simulations and modelling has grown in recent years. A Europe-wide project on plasma theory and simulation is to enhance this development. The aim is to create virtual plasma models as digital twins of real plasmas.