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W7-x

German nuclear fusion reactor 'stellarator' cleared for first test on 10 December 2015 (ipp.mpg.de)
Wendelstein 7-X before the start | Max-Planck-Institut f

The Wendelstein 7-X fusion device before its first plasma
Next week: start with helium plasma planned / hydrogen plasmas are to follow in 2016

November 30, 2015
With the generation of the first plasma the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device is scheduled to go into operation on time in December 2015 at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald/Germany. The experiments will begin with a plasma consisting of the noble gas helium. The Wendelstein 7-X fusion device is the world’s largest and most advanced device of the stellarator type. Its objective is to investigate the suitability of this type for a power plant.

Comments at Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/...n_nuclear_fusion_reactor_stellarator_cleared/
Sample:
"Wendelstein W7-X is not a reactor, it is a fusion device/experiment and its goal is to show that its type, the stellarator, is suitable for a reactor."
 
First plasma in Wendelstein 7-X | Max-Planck-Institut f
The first plasma: the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device is now in operation
A successful start with helium plasma / hydrogen plasma to follow at the beginning of 2016
December 10, 2015

On 10th December 2015 the first helium plasma was produced in the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald.

After more than a year of technical preparations and tests, experimental operation has now commenced according to plan. Wendelstein 7-X, the world’s largest stellarator-type fusion device, will investigate the suitability of this type of device for a power station.

Comments at Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/...irst_plasma_the_wendelstein_7x_fusion_device/
"One milligram of helium was ionized and raised to a temperature of one million degrees for one tenth of a second. It was the first time they turned the device on (other than subsystem testing). The real work doesn't begin until next year."
 
German Scientists to Test Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator Nuclear Fusion Device to See Whether It Can Handle Hydrogen German Scientists to Test Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator Nuclear Fusion Device to See Whether It Can Handle Hydrogen

On Wednesday, a team of scientists will conduct a nuclear fusion experiment at the Max Planck Institute in Greifswald, north-east Germany, to advance the quest for a cleaner, safer form of nuclear energy. The results of the experiment will reveal whether the new fusion device, Wendelstein 7-X, can handle hydrogen and make it the fuel of future fusion reactors.

Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, is also expected to attend this experiment.

In this nuclear fusion experiment, researchers will inject a small amount of hydrogen into W7-X, and the hydrogen will then be heated until it becomes a super-hot gas plasma.
- See more at: German Scientists to Test Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator Nuclear Fusion Device to See Whether It Can Handle Hydrogen
 
Nuclear fusion device's 1st test with hydrogen declared a success
Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Greifswald successfully generated a plasma for a fraction of a second
Nuclear fusion device's 1st test with hydrogen declared a success - Technology & Science - CBC News

Scientists in Germany flipped the switch Wednesday on an experiment they hope will advance the quest for nuclear fusion, considered a clean and safe form of nuclear power.
The resulting super-hot gas, known as plasma, lasted just a fraction of a second before cooling down again, long enough for scientists to confidently declare the start of their experiment a success.

"Everything went well today," said Robert Wolf, a senior scientist involved with the project. "With a system as complex as this you have to make sure everything works perfectly and there's always a risk."

Among the difficulties is how to cool the complex arrangement of magnets required to keep the plasma floating inside the device, Wolf said. Scientists looked closely at the hiccups experienced during the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland more than five years ago to avoid similar mistakes, he said.

Following nine years of construction and testing, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald injected a tiny amount of hydrogen into a doughnut-shaped device — then zapped it with the equivalent of 6,000 microwave ovens.

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Comments at Voat:
https://voat.co/v/technology/comments/836976

[–] ginger-saurus-rex
Just an FYI: they didn't succeed in nuclear fusion, they succeeded in sustaining a hydrogen plasma at much lower temperatures than are required for successful hydrogen fusion. However, this is an enormous leap towards actually achieving man-sustained fusion and generating power from it.
 








 
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