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ITER will be an actual tokamak fusion reactor producing energy. Wendelstein 7-X is a plasma containment experiment based on the stellarator design. There will b
by dukoid 8y ago
ITER will be an actual tokamak fusion reactor producing energy. Wendelstein 7-X is a plasma containment experiment based on the stellarator design. There will be no fusion.
Technology for magnetic enclosure was advanced significantly by both. In this regard, they profit from each other.
Tokamak reactors require a pulsed operation mode. There is no way to sustain fusion for longer time.
The Stellarators design allows continuous operation, putting less stress on the structure. The calculation of the winded enclosure structure is quite complex and it has only become possible to design and implement with sufficient precision recently.
If I'd have to "bet" on a design, it would be Stellarator. If you understand German, listen to this podcast. You won't regret it: https://alternativlos.org/36/ https://alternativlos.org/36/
- DennisP 8y agoPeople keep saying Wendelstein won't do fusion but that's not the case. Currently the 7-X isn't doing fusion because they're using hydrogen. But they plan to use deuterium later, just like all the other fusion research reactors, and they'll get fusion reactions when they do. There's really no reason not to; you get more data and it's easy. People fuse deuterium in their garages with home-built fusors.
- sterlind 8y agoExactly! AFAICT, the trickiest unknown is maintaining plasma stability and not degrading the insides (and then, breaking even on power while doing so.) Wendelstein seems to be on track to steady-state operation; they've held plasma for 100s, and their graphite shielding seems to be delivering cleaner plasma streams. The design for the 7-X wasn't feasible until supercomputers got powerful enough. We know how to run those simulations; fusion should get more practical as computers get faster.