An illustration depicting computer graphics of the plasma vessel (shown in pink) and superconducting magnet coils of the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device. (Image: IPP)
The Department of Energy announced a 10-year project agreement with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) to advance research on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator.
“This agreement reflects our deep commitment to international partnerships that accelerate progress in fusion energy,” said Jean Paul Allain, director of the Office of Fusion at the DOE. “The collaboration between the United States and IPP on W7-X has been extraordinarily productive for more than 20 years already, and this agreement pushes us forward into the next decade and beyond.”
A plastic pellet replica alongside a dime and the tool that cuts each pellet from a solid hydrogen filament. (Photo: Larry Baylor/ORNL)
In May, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Greifswald, Germany, concluded an experimental campaign by sustaining a plasma with a high triple product for 43 seconds. The machine far surpassed its own previous performance with a value that the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) says “exceeds previous tokamak records for long plasma durations”—in part because of a fuel pellet injection system developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Watch ORNL’s video of that fuel pellet injection system—in use since September 2024—as it extrudes a column of frozen hydrogen and then cuts individual 3.2-millimeter-long pellets. The process, which takes just half a millisecond, was captured in slow motion by ORNL engineer Steve Meitner.
The magnet system of Wendelstein 7-X features 50 superconducting magnet coils. (Graphic: IPP)
The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) was founded in Garching, Germany, in 1960, the same year that its Wendelstein 1a stellarator began operation. Wendelstein 7-X is now operating at IPP’s site in Greifswald, Germany, and one of the objectives the device was designed to achieve has recently been confirmed, IPP announced on August 12. Analysis by IPP scientists shows that the twisted magnetic coils of the device successfully control plasma energy losses, indicating that stellarator fusion devices could be suitable for power plants, according to a detailed analysis of experimental results published on August 11 in Nature.
The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics offers an interactive and informative 360-degree panoramic tour of Wendelstein 7-X. (Source: ipp.mpg.de)
U.S. scientists are getting funding to carry out seven research projects at two major stellarator fusion energy facilities located in Germany and Japan, the Department of Energy announced on June 8. A total of $6.4 million has been allocated for seven research projects with terms of up to three years.
