stellarator pic: 2: A schematic classical stellarator, figure courtesy of C. Brandt
In the prior post, I discussed the recent breakthrough at Lawrence Livermore Labs regarding a ‘net gain’ event in the development of fusion power. You can go back to Part 1, or alternatively let one of my favorite people, Neil deGrasse Tyson review the breakthrough – see video below.
As promised at the end of Part 1, here I will talk more about the mysterious Tokamak, a rival technology called the Stellarator, and about the private companies that are working on projects to be first to reach commercial viability, and most pragmatically, the opportunities (jobs, careers) that already abound and will continue to grow for project leaders.
The Tokamak
The Tokamak – sounding to me like a word from Aleut, is actually a sort of acronym from the Russian words (Toroidalnaya Kamera i Magnitnaya Katushka)(in Cyrillic - Тороидальная Камера и Магнитная Катушка) which effectively means toroidal magnetic chamber or confinement) was developed in the mid-1960s by Soviet physicists. It can produce some of the highest plasma temperatures, densities, and confinement durations of any confinement device. As a reminder from Part 1, plasma is ‘the fourth state of matter’. It’s a gas in which many of its particles are ionized, meaning they have lost or gained electrons. Plasma is found in many stars, lightning, and some types of flames. You are seeing light emitted by plasma when you look at an illuminated neon sign.
A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape that scientists call a torus. Fusion energy scientists believe that tokamaks are the leading plasma confinement concept for future fusion power plants. In a tokamak, magnetic field coils confine plasma particles to allow the plasma to achieve the conditions necessary for fusion. One set of magnetic coils generates an intense “toroidal” field, directed the long way around the torus. A central solenoid (a magnet that carries electric current) creates a second magnetic field directed along the “poloidal” direction, the short way around the torus. The two field components result in a twisted magnetic field that confines the particles in the plasma. A third set of field coils generates an outer poloidal field that shapes and positions the plasma.
The first tokamak, T-1, began operation in Russia in 1958. Subsequent advances led to the construction of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Joint European Torus in England, both of which achieved record fusion power in the 1990s. These successes motivated 35 nations to collaborate on the superconducting ITER tokamak (covered in Part 1), which aims to explore the physics of burning plasmas.
But the Tokamak has a challenger – the Stellarator. Here’s an outstanding video that reveals the beauty of the Stellarator – which literally is a quite twisted idea:
The Stellarator
And here, again courtesy of the US Department of Energy, is a better explanation of the Stellarator than I could ever give you:
Fusion power may be able to provide the world with safe, clean, and renewable power. The stellarator is one of the technologies scientists believe could lead to real-world fusionpower. A stellarator is a machine that uses magnetic fields to confine plasma in the shape of a donut, called a torus. These magnetic fields allow scientists to control the plasma particles and create the right conditions for fusion reactions. Stellarators use extremely strong electromagnets to generate twisting magnetic fields that wrap the long way around the donut shape.
Stellarators have several advantages over tokamaks, the other main technology that scientists are exploring for fusion power. Stellarators require less injected power to sustain the plasma, have greater design flexibility, and allow for simplification of some aspects of plasma control. However, these benefits come at the cost of increased complexity, especially for the magnetic field coils.
To advance Stellarator design, scientists have turned to high performance computingand state-of-the-art plasma theory. These tools have helped researchers optimize the Helically Symmetric Experiment (HSX) stellarator in Wisconsin and the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany.
As a side note, I have been increasingly interested in AI-based research, including ChatGPT (and GPTZero, which can detect AI-generated text). So I asked ChatGPT to tell me the difference between a Stellarator and a Tokamak.
From ChatGPT
A stellarator and a tokamak are both devices used to confine and heat plasma in order to create conditions suitable for nuclear fusion, but they use different methods to achieve this. A tokamak uses magnetic fields to confine the plasma in a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) shape, while a stellarator uses a complex arrangement of magnetic coils to create a similar confinement. In general, tokamaks are simpler and more widely used, but stellarators have the potential to be more stable and efficient.
The good news: The answer generated by AI was good. The better news – as an educator, we can tell whether or not an essay or essay segement is generated by AI:
GPTZero was able to determine: Your text is most likely to be AI generated!
Now back to what this means to project leaders...
What does this mean for project leaders?
One word: Opportunities!
I did a little research on two companies that are working on Stellarator versions of fusion power: GeneralFusion in Canada and Helion in the USA. Aside from the project management job opportunities in the research area, there are jobs blossoming in the commercialization of fusion power as well. Here’s an example from General Fusion:
Prioritize and assign tasks, oversee project logistics and resource allocation.
Assume a leadership role in defining projects, test plans and design of experiments whilst collecting test requirements and constraints from numerous stakeholders.
Create project schedules and work with team members to ensure they are met.
Participate in hiring and training of qualified staff.
Act as a mentor to junior team members.
Collaborate across multiple teams; communicate effectively to ensure team efforts are aligned with priorities and evolving requirements.
The DOE recently sponsored a conference and there are several downloads of presentations about the PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships) underway in the fusion area. Click here for those downloads.
Of course, many of these jobs are going to want technical knowledge in the area. You won’t necessarily have to be a nuclear scientist, but it would help to build some knowledge in the area. These two blog posts are not the answer, certainly not in and of themselves! But they may tickle your interest in the topic – and that’s a start.
