German Stellarator Sets New Nuclear Fusion Records, Paving the Way for Clean Energy

The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany, has achieved unprecedented milestones in nuclear fusion research. During its recent experimental campaign, the reactor set a new record for the "triple product," which measures plasma efficiency, crucial for future power generation, according to Thomas Klinger, Head of Operations at Wendelstein 7-X.

Nuclear fusion promises a significant clean energy alternative by fusing hydrogen isotopes under extreme temperatures. However, recreating the necessary conditions on Earth has historically proved challenging. Stellarators, like Wendelstein 7-X, utilize external magnets to stabilize plasma, making them potentially more viable than traditional tokamak reactors.

In the latest tests, the reactor maintained a plasma temperature of 30 million degrees Celsius and exceeded previous benchmarks, achieving 1.8 gigajoules in energy turnover over six minutes. This surpasses the earlier record set by tokamak reactors and demonstrates the stellarator concept's growing viability for commercial energy production, as noted by Robert Wolf of the Institute for Plasma Physics.