The essentials
TOPIC
Why the strange shape
The confining twist comes entirely from external coils. That removes the driven current and with it the disruption risk that plagues tokamaks.
TOPIC
Steady state by design
No current to sustain means no inherent pulse limit. For a power plant that has to run for months, this is a structural advantage.
TOPIC
Manufacturing is the cost
Those coils are non-planar, in tight tolerance, at scale. Wendelstein 7-X proved it can be done — and showed how demanding it is.
W7-X
Proof machine
STEADY
State capable
0
Plasma current
COILS
Hard part
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Part of the Porritt Inc. energy library. Questions or corrections are welcome.
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