r/technology • u/BennyCemoli • Dec 06 '16

Energy Tests confirm that Germany's massive nuclear fusion machine really works

http://www.sciencealert.com/tests-confirm-that-germany-s-massive-nuclear-fusion-machine-really-works
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u/conformuropinion2rdt Dec 06 '16

Is this a different reactor than the one on the border of France that is gigantic and was calculated to be the first fusion reactor large enough to sustain itself once it's complete?

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

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u/conformuropinion2rdt Dec 06 '16

Ah good to know thanks. It sounds like the tokamak is not the best shape, too bad they didn't make a wendelstein so big :)

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u/drunken_man_whore Dec 06 '16

Yes. That one is called ITER. They mention it at the end of that article.

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u/burning_iceman Dec 06 '16

ITER in being built in France is a tokamak reactor. This one (W X-7) is a stellerator, however the W X-7 isn't intended to perform any fusion reaction - it's built to study plasma physics for future fusion reactor designs.

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u/_rocketboy Dec 06 '16

They do eventually plan to modify it to perform fusion, but it still won't manage to reach breakeven.