tokamak

The electrons and positively charged nuclei move about the interior of the tokamak.

In a magnet-based reactor, known as a tokamak, the plasma is trapped inside an electromagnetic cage, forcing it to hold its shape and stopping it from touching the reactor walls, which would cool the plasma and damage the reactor.

This experiment is crucial for preparation for ITER—an under-construction, 80 percent completed plan to build an even bigger version of the JET tokamak.

As for ITER, the giant tokamak under construction in France, it’s only an intermediate step toward making fusion power feasible.

NIF and its counterparts can create immense pressures, more than is possible in a tokamak—but the pressures in a tokamak last much longer.