Wendelstein 7-X on the verge of new peak performance – the stellarator at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics has been significantly improved and will resume scientific experiments in autumn 2022.

6 comments

  2. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    >From autumn 2022 onwards, an international team of scientists will once again drive W7-X to new heights of performance. “With the improved equipment, we want to be able to keep high-performance plasmas with up to 18 gigajoules of energy turnover stable for half an hour in a few years,” explains Professor Dr. Thomas Klinger, Head of Stellarator Transport and Stability Division, IPP, Greifswald. “Now it will be a matter of approaching this goal step-by-step and learning more about plasma operation at higher energies without putting too much stress on the machine too quickly,” he adds.

    >For the upcoming experimental campaign (OP 2.1) alone, which is expected to last until end of March 2023, several hundred experiment proposals have been submitted by researchers from IPP, numerous international institutes as well as universities from the EU, US and Japan.

  5. This is really cool stuff. It’s a slightly different approach compared to ITER with a far more complex magnetic field. It’s very good at keeping the plasma contained which is a big step towards making a useful reactor (and to make it a bit smaller). It delivered very promising results so far and while it might not change the world over night, it’s really good research.

    Also, construction for this reactor was on time and within budget.

  6. great article! written so that most people’s reactions are addressed; from why it’s taking so long, to how hot it needs to be, to what the difficulties are. pleasure to read, thanak for posting.

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