Oxfordshire company carries out magnetic fusion research

Inertial fusion company First Light Fusion is working alongside Sweden's KTH and Italy's CNR to look into the damage caused by dust-impacts in tokamak fusion devices - the experimental machines mainly used in magnetic confinement fusion.

A key challenge in advancing magnetic fusion is increasing the lifespan of tokamak reactors and promoting the commercialisation of magnetic fusion energy.

One major hurdle has been the damage caused to the machinery by solid dust particles, which almost move faster than the speed of sound, known as supersonic speed.

First Light Fusion collaborated with institutions from Sweden and Italy on the research (Image: First Light Fusion)

The crashing of these particles into the vessel's surface results in the melting of material, fragmentation and can cause craters to form.

First Light Fusion has conducted experiments using its two-stage light-gas gun to simulate and better understand these impacts, launching minuscule molybdenum or tungsten dust particles inside a projectile towards a solid static target.

The tests, which utilised extreme cooling to mimic conditions in the tokamaks, supported the further understanding of the damage caused by these dust impacts, with observations shared with CNR Italy.

Subsequently, the data and samples were included in a presentation at the 26th International Conference on Plasma Surface Interaction in Controlled Fusion Devices (PSI-26) in Marseille, France, in May.

The research team comprised of Dr Francisco Suzuki-Vidal from First Light Fusion, Dr Panagiotis Tolias from KTH, and Dr Marco De Angeli and Dr Dario Ripamonti from CNR.

Dr Suzuki-Vidal, lead scientist at First Light Fusion, said: "These experiments mark a big step forward in our understanding of the damage of dust-impacts in fusion devices.

"It has been great to see the benefits of our ongoing collaboration with our peers in Sweden and Italy come to fruition.

"I look forward to continuing to work with them as we deepen our experience and understanding of the key issue of vessel damage in fusion reactors."

Dr Tolias, docent at KTH Sweden, added: "Understanding of all aspects of high-speed dust-wall impacts allows quantification of the cratering extent in future tokamak reactors and improves the design of controlled runaway electron impact experiments in contemporary tokamaks.

"Such experiments are essential to validate wall damage codes with predictive power for ITER and beyond, where uncontrolled runaway electron termination can irreparably harm large parts of the vessel."

The research forms part of First Light’s ongoing Collaborative Experiments Programme which aims to expand its technical capabilities through collaboration with world-renowned experts in the fields of fusion, plasma physics and high-energy density physics.