Keeping the Solar Fire Alight

The plasma generator PSI-2 has started operation at Jülich. From 2035, the machine weighing three tonnes and costing one million euro will help to discover materials capable of withstanding continuous operation as wall elements in a fusion power plant. These materials must be able at all times to resist the enormous strain put on the walls by the fusion matter at a temperature of 100 million degrees inside the combustion chamber as well as neutron bombardment.