Nuclear Fusion Plasma is much better in ColorNuclear Fusion Plasma in color.  © Tokamak Energy

Check out one of our latest Nuclear Fusion plasma pulses in the ST40 tokamak, captured with our new high-speed colour camera at an incredible 16,000 frames per second.

Each pulse lasts only about a fifth of a second. What you see glowing pink is light from the plasma’s edge — the core is so hot that it doesn’t emit visible light.

In this clip, lithium is dropped into the plasma. As it reacts, it first glows red when excited, then turns green as it becomes ionised and loses an electron. The glowing lithium then follows the magnetic field lines, showing the plasma’s path around the tokamak.

Lithium is the focus of our $52 million ST40 upgrade programme, in partnership with @ENERGY and @energygovuk.

This footage is part of our ongoing research into X-point radiator (XPR) regimes — a promising operating mode for future #fusion power plants. XPR aims to cool the plasma before it hits the plasma-facing components (PFCs), reducing wear while keeping performance high.

source Tokamak Energy