TAE Technologies Achieves Milestone in Plasma Control and Stabilization
TAE Technologies, a US-based company, has achieved a significant breakthrough in the control and stabilization of plasma, which could lead to the development of commercial fusion power plants by 2030. The company recently announced that it had successfully generated stable plasma at 50 million degrees Celsius, a crucial step towards the production of fusion energy. TAE Technologies’ approach involves using a self-generated magnetic field to stabilize the hot plasma, eliminating the need for a strong external magnetic field, as required by the international research reactor ITER.
The company’s success in controlling and stabilizing the delicate plasma confirms its research approach and paves the way for the development of commercial fusion power plants. TAE Technologies has already secured $280 million in a recent funding round, bringing the total investment in the company to $880 million. Some of the funds will be used to build the Copernicus demonstration plant, which will simulate net energy production from the conventional deuterium-tritium fuel cycle. However, a temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius is required for fusion, which is higher than the temperature achieved by TAE Technologies.
The international research reactor ITER is considered the most important research project in the field of fusion energy, but the first experiments with the fusion reactor are not scheduled until 2025, and the deuterium-tritium operation is not expected to begin until 2035. TAE Technologies’ recent breakthrough offers hope that fusion energy production could begin much earlier than anticipated. The company’s success in generating stable plasma at high temperatures is a significant milestone in the development of fusion energy, which could provide clean energy for the future.
