The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) has reached a significant milestone with the successful completion and assembly of its central solenoid, the world’s most powerful magnet. This groundbreaking development is a pivotal step in the quest to harness nuclear fusion energy, a potential key to clean and sustainable power generation.
The central solenoid is an integral part of ITER’s magnetic confinement system, designed to generate a magnetic field approximately 280,000 times stronger than Earth's magnetic field. Standing 18 meters tall and weighing around 1,000 tons, this superconducting magnet is crucial in confining the superheated plasma necessary for fusion reactions. The solenoid is constructed from six modules, each containing approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) of steel-jacketed niobium-tin superconducting cable, showcasing an impressive feat of international collaboration and engineering.
ITER is a multinational project involving 35 countries, including the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Russia. Despite political tensions, the project has maintained momentum and cooperation, and ITER's Director General, Pietro Barabaschi, highlighted the strong unity among participating nations, noting, "They have a very, very strong cohesion of objectives." While the project has encountered delays—particularly with the central solenoid's assembly, which arrived four years behind schedule—Barabaschi indicated that the "crisis" period is over, and construction is now progressing at an unprecedented pace.
The ITER project, set to achieve its first plasma operation by 2033, aims to demonstrate a tenfold energy gain by 2035, producing 500 megawatts of thermal power from just 50 megawatts of input. Although ITER itself will not supply power to the grid, its success is expected to pave the way for future commercial fusion power plants. This breakthrough complements private sector efforts in fusion energy, with companies like Helion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems pushing toward bringing fusion energy to the grid within the next decade.
As ITER progresses, it represents a collective international effort to make fusion energy a reality, offering a potentially limitless and clean energy source for the future.