In Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, hydrogen plasma was obtained.

At the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Max Planck Society (Greifswald, Germany) at 17:25 Moscow time, an experiment was successfully conducted, during which scientists launched the Wendelstein 7-X thermonuclear reactor to produce plasma. This is the second reactor start-up, the first one took place on December 10, 2015 , then the launch with helium plasma was carried out. In December, the plasma was able to keep in equilibrium about 0.1 seconds.

Now the experiment was also successful, although the time during which the plasma was kept in a stable state is also small, and is approximately 0.1 s. Experts hope to keep the plasma in a stable state for about half an hour - this is the ultimate goal of the experiment.

The first experiment was carried out with helium, the experiment was successful. The second stage also went well - it was possible to obtain a hydrogen plasma, no problems arose. Plasma was obtained using a powerful microwave pulse. According to scientists, the pulse of such power could be obtained by bringing together about 6000 microwaves.
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Wendelstein 7-X began to build in 2005, and completed the assembly in 2014. After that, scientists prepared the reactor for the experiment, completing preparations only at the end of 2015. The cost of the project has reached $ 435 million. Now there are two types of promising reactors in the world - a tokamak-type reactor and a stellarator-type reactor. According to some experts, the stellarator is a more promising type of reactor, since it is easier to keep the plasma in a stable state here than in a tokamak. Project manager Thomas Klinger says that the stellarator is harder to assemble than the tokamak, but it is easier to manage. True, there are a number of difficulties - for example, the cooling of magnets, which are used to keep the plasma in a stable state.

The main part of Wendelstein 7-X is a large toroid of 11 m outer diameter. In it, the rotating plasma is enclosed in a magnetic field so as not to touch the walls. The magnetic field is produced by fifty 3.5-meter fixed magnetic coils. The other 20 moving magnets serve for purposeful action on the magnetic field.


Project Technical Director Hans-Stefan Bog Bosch keeps computer images showing plasma inside the reactor

“The impressive results achieved at the start are a real event,” said David Anderson, one of the project participants. It is interesting that not all physicists consider the creation of thermonuclear reactors to be a promising business. Some expressed the opinion (and adhere to it), according to which the work on fusion reactors is a waste of money. Funds are required very significant, but the result is not yet, although attempts to build a fusion reactor have continued for many years.

But despite the criticism, the Germans decided to implement a project to create a stellarator, and continue to do everything to achieve the planned goals.