December 20, 2022 | less than a minute read

First plasma for Tokamak Energy’s upgraded ST40 fusion device

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George Fulton

Associate

Get in touch

George Fulton

Associate

We are pleased to see that the ST40 spherical tokamak at Tokamak Energy is up and running again, following an upgrade to include a new Thomson scattering laser system which is able to measure temperature and electron density at multiple positions across the plasma.

This upgrade will no doubt form part of a wider campaign investigating how to achieve the longer pulse times and higher Q factors of their future tokamak designs, in particular their commercial fusion pilot plant (ST-E1). This is an exciting time for fusion, and the Marks & Clerk team will be eagerly awaiting these future results.

Tokamak Energy’s upgraded fusion energy device, ST40, has achieved first plasma after recently returning to operations, as part of the company’s mission to demonstrate clean, grid-ready power by the early 2030s. The company demonstrated a world-first by reaching a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in the ST40 tokamak earlier this year. This is the threshold required for commercial fusion energy and the highest temperature ever achieved in a privately funded spherical tokamak.