I remember about 15 years ago I did a school report on fusion power. I remember there was another model than the tokamak that was more complex to set up but had other advantages going for it. Think it was called the stellaradiator or something. Has it been a developmental dead end?

[–] A_A@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Stellarator
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellarator

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 years ago

Ah yeah that’s the one. Thanks

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

has it been a developmental dead end?

Nope, there are several companies & universities working on it.

W7x is the latest stellarator to come online, but there's a new Princeton University startup called Thea doing all the complex geometry and control problems of a stellarator in software.

It's a neat and elegant idea, engineering-wise. And no matter whose strategy works out, we all win in terms of understanding plasma physics, and possibly unlocking the secrets of the universe.