Spherical tokamak | MAST's divertor concept yields positive results
During the first months of experimentation on the MAST Upgrade tokamak in the United Kingdom, an innovative plasma exhaust concept has demonstrated positive results, reducing by tenfold the heat loads at the divertor area of the machine.
MAST Upgrade is a spherical tokamak in the United Kingdom that is testing an innovative Super-X divertor concept. Super-X spreads the heat load of tokamak exhaust particles over a larger area to increase material lifetime. Credit: UKAEAOne of the fundamental engineering challenges in designing a commercial fusion reactor is how best to manage the power exhaust and the removal of impurity particles during plasma operation. Heat-exhaust systems must be capable of withstanding the large heat and particle fluxes, while at the same time allowing as high performance as possible from the core plasma.