The diagnostic systems - an essential factor in TauEB project

”Results obtained from the diagnostic systems fitted to the fusion maschine anable you to confirm if the measured performance matches the expected results, and where differences occur can help inform any required changes to the design or operation of the machine” says James Wilson, Senior Programme manager at the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

The challenge in fusion power is to build a machine that can create and control plasma, a super-hot gas otherwise found in the sun, lightning and the northern lights. It is vital to reach a critical temperature that, in turn, provides energy, and to do this, you need to measure both temperature and density through diagnostics.

The diagnostic system used in the TauEB project at the Novatron facility in Sweden are not new. However, the unit and machine that Novatron has built differs from the facilities and units in the UK.

”We will be using proven diagnostic techniques but for some it will be operating in a different environment compared to normal. And therefore, it will also be interesting to see how they perform and to study the results obtained,” says Wilson.

"Novatron machine has complex plasma configuration"

The UK has a long history of researching plasma and is skilled in fusion energy diagnostics. Plasma research began in the mid-1950s, and the UK Atomic Energy Authority has since built and operated more than 10 fusion experiments. In 2023 the JET facility in Culham, near Oxford, set a new record for power generated, controlling the plasma for 5 seconds as the heat reached 150 million degrees.

” The Novatron machine has a complex plasma configuration, operating with a temperature and density in a different range than are used to measuring in more conventional machines. The main difference is the novel magnetic field configuration,” says Ivor Coffey, Diagnostic Project Engineer at the UK Atomic Energy Authority.