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Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator Breaks Triple Product Record with 43-Second Plasma Pulse

Integration of Oak Ridge’s pellet injector enabled sustained fueling that propelled W7-X past tokamak performance benchmarks, underscoring stellarators’ promise for future fusion reactors.

View into the Wendelstein 7-X experimental hall. MPI for Plasma Physics, Jan Hosan
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Overview

  • W7-X sustained a fusion triple product at record levels for 43 seconds, surpassing long-pulse benchmarks set by tokamaks such as JT-60U and JET.
  • About 90 frozen hydrogen pellets were fired into the plasma by Oak Ridge’s new injector, maintaining ion density and enabling continuous refueling throughout the discharge.
  • The device delivered a 360-second plasma pulse with a total energy turnover of 1.8 gigajoules, eclipsing its previous 1.3 GJ record from February 2023.
  • By lowering the magnetic field to 70 percent, researchers raised the plasma beta to 3 percent across the full volume and achieved ion temperatures up to 40 million °C.
  • The OP2.3 campaign’s achievements reflect collaboration among IPP, ORNL, KIT, the University of Stuttgart, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and other partners, advancing stellarator viability.