Putting a new spin on tokamak disruptions

In the quest for fusion energy on earth, researchers use magnetic fields to insulate hot plasma from the walls of the chamber to maintain the reaction and prevent damage to interior surfaces. In the tokamak, a leading contender to achieve a sustained fusion burn, electrical currents flowing in the plasma inside the doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber can become unstable if the plasma current or pressure gets too high or the control system breaks, leading to a sudden termination of the discharge. This sudden termination, called a disruption, can produce concentrated heating and mechanical forces on a section of the interior surface, forcing the plant to shut down for repairs.

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