3 ms·
>This is inherently unstable. Any imperfection in the containment could result in significant container damage. This is a misunderstanding that conflates multi
by willis936 3y ago
>This is inherently unstable. Any imperfection in the containment could result in significant container damage.
This is a misunderstanding that conflates multiple concepts: instabilities from toroidal plasma current (unnecessary in stellarators) and edge turbulence (lower confinement time). W7-X has done 30 second shots and are working their way to 30 minute shots. It is their control that has terminated their shots, not the plasma.
- jmyeet 3y agoYou're trying to contain something at ~100 million degrees when the result of that process is destroying the container. It's not an exaggeration to say the engineering challenges are... significant.
- willis936 3y agoIndeed it is and the details matter. That's why I wanted to set the record straight.
- mpweiher 3y agoYep. It's hard. That's why stellarators are so amazing: they can do it.
- DennisP 3y agoThe temperature is high but the amount of heat isn't unusual. The atoms are moving fast but there aren't many of them. For a 500MW plant you're containing about the same amount of energy whether it's fusion or coal.
- mpweiher 3y agoExactly! Update: > W7-X has done 30 second shots They're up to 8 minutes now. https://www.ipp.mpg.de/5322229/01_23?c=5322195 https://www.ipp.mpg.de/5322229/01_23?c=5322195