Pakistan Defence

The Wendelstein X-7 reactor is the currently most advanced reactor design and so far the first one which will provide a stable fusion and energey output. It is buidl in Greifswald from our Max Planck Institute and works with the stellerator design.

Wendelstein 7-X is mainly a toroid, consisting of 50 non-planar and 20 planar superconducting magnetic coils, 3.5 m high, which induce a magnetic field that prevents the plasma from colliding with the reactor walls. The 50 non-planar coils are used for adjusting the magnetic field.

The main components are the magnetic coils, cryostat, plasma vessel, divertor and heating systems.

The coils are arranged around a heat insulating cladding which is 16 meters in diameter called the cryostat. A cooling device produces enough liquid helium to carry away 5,000 watts of heating power to cool down the magnets and their enclosure (about 425 metric tons) to superconductivity temperature. The plasma vessel, built of 20 parts, is on the inside, adjusted to the complex shape of the magnetic field. It has 299 holes for plasma heating and observation diagnostics. The whole plant is built of 5 almost identical modules, which are assembled in the experiment hall.

The heating system includes 10 megawatts of microwaves, for up to 10 seconds, and can deliver 1 megawatt for 50 seconds during operational phase 1 (OP-1). For operational phase 2 (OP-2), after completion of the full armor/water-cooling, up to 8 megawatts of neutral beam injection will also be available for 10 seconds, while the microwave system will be extended to true steady state (30 minutes).

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You may wonder about the weird form of the reactor, it means the plasma will flow in a certain way through the reactor, hold in place with extremly powerful magnetic fields. The inner tube will be a vacuum and the hydrogen plasma will be heated on several million °C, thats the temperature of the center of the sun. Because of that the plasma is not allowed to touch the walls. The magnetic fields hold it away from the reactor walls:



Wendelstein-X7 is the first really realistic Fusion reactor concept which will allow to gain more energy than what is needed to start the process. It will basicly allow humanity boundless amounts of energy. If we get fusion reactor running, entire germany could be powered with just one ton of hydrogen for an entire year.

It would change the world as we know it. Create boundless amounts of clean energy on earth but would also provide a energy scource which could be used on ships, spaceships and even bases on moon, mars and beyond.

The moderate size of Wendelstein-X7 would allow that system to be build on the proposed moon base from ESA.

As you see, the possibilities are endless.

The costs of the project are enormous, even for germany. 80% are paid from the research fund of our Science ministry.

Now that the building process is almost complete the system will go online in fall of this year and start operation in 2015. Kepp your thumps pressed.