Smart Tokamak, an experimental nuclear fusion device, has successfully generated its first plasma. The milestone, achieved by the Plasma and Fusion Lab at the University of Seville, Spain and two years ahead of schedule, is a step forward in the goal set by the backers of this technology: a green and practically unlimited source of energy, as just a few grams of plasma could power a family’s energy needs for over a century. Unlike conventional devices, SMART (the acronym for Small Aspect Ratio Tokamak) is a spherical tokamak with flexible shaping capabilities, allowing it to experiment with various plasma configurations.

According to the researchers, their tokamak is unique in its ability to generate plasma with different shapes, which could pave the way for designing compact plasma fusion devices in the future.

Reaching the plasma operative phase

Manuel García Muñoz, the lead researcher of Tokamak Smart, highlights that this is a “significant milestone” as the team enters the “operative phase” of the device.

“Smart explores a potentially revolutionary path by combining high-performance fusion plasmas with attractive solutions for their implementation in super-compact fusion reactors,” he underscores.

Nuclear fusion is the great hope for energy. The physical principle involves the release of energy by merging two nuclei of light atoms to form another. Currently, the most commonly used elements are deuterium and tritium, from which just 2.5 grams (the equivalent of what fits in a teaspoon) can generate as much energy as burning an entire stadium filled with coal.

Negative Is Positive?

The device has a “negative triangularity configuration,” which distributes heat over a larger diverter area, offering promising solutions for managing the intense heat loads in future reactors. Most tokamak devices operate in the opposite manner, opting for positive triangularity, according to the researchers.

Managing intense heat is key, as fusion reactors can reach over 150 million degrees Celsius (in the case of the Seville University trial, it reached 10 million degrees and lasted for one second).

China achieved a significant breakthrough earlier this year when a reactor from the Institute of Plasma Physics sustained temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius for 1,066 seconds, according to data released by Chinese authorities.

The Asian nation may be leading the “fusion race,” which was initially spearheaded by the United States, the country that achieved the first net energy gain from a fusion experiment in 2022.

Smart is the first step in the Fusion2Grid strategy, which aims to develop the scientific and technological foundation for the most compact fusion power plant possible.

Professor Eleonora Viezzer, co-PI of the project, concludes, “we were all very excited to see the first magnetically confined plasma, and we are looking forward to exploiting the capabilities of the Smart device together with the international scientific community. Smart has sparked great interest around the world.”