DIII-D National Fusion Facility Achieves Historic Operational Milestone on the Road to Developing Fusion Energy

Leading U.S. fusion facility reaches 200,000 experimental "shots"

SAN DIEGO, October 24, 2024 - The DIII-D National Fusion Facility recently surpassed its 200,000th experimental cycle since it began operations, marking an important milestone in the development of clean fusion energy. Referred to as "shots," each of these tests and discharges have advanced the U.S. fusion research program's collective understanding of how to create, shape, and confine plasmas to support the development of fusion as a source of base-load energy in the future.

"While completing 200,000 shots is impressive in its own right, this achievement is far more than a mere number," said Dr. Richard Buttery, Director of the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. "Those shots represent steady, important progress on the road to fusion energy. Each one is a challenge solved, a question answered, a career begun or progressed, or a new technology proven. In a very real sense, the history of DIII-D is a history of fusion energy research, and we are very excited for what we have planned for DIII-D in the future."

DIII-D Users celebrate as the machine reaches its 200,000th experimental cycle.

In recent years, researchers have used DIII-D to make several important advancements in fusion, including surpassing a theoretical limitation on plasma density (an operational requirement for nearly all fusion power plant designs) and creating the world's most powerful fusion plasmas in novel configurations. These experiments have significant implications for the design of future power plants and the associated costs related to building, operating, and maintaining them.

Other notable research campaigns tested life-saving heat shields for future spacecraft, explored new systems for measuring and maintaining performance, and improved operators' ability to control plasmas. Together, these experiments have helped position fusion for the next stage of research, development, demonstration, and deployment.

"DIII-D serves as a key physics and technology de-risk platform to bridge the gap between current magnetic confinement facilities and future fusion pilot plants. Leveraging its world-class diagnostic capability to validate advanced computational models, DIII-D informs the design of reliable solutions for potential future prototypes and fusion pilot plants. Moreover, DIII-D nurtures workforce talent that supplies both the burgeoning fusion industry ecosystem and moves the field closer to commercializing fusion energy," said Dr. Jean Paul Allain, Associate Director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences.

Supporting Rapid Growth in the Fusion Industry

As rapid advancements are made in public sector fusion research and development, the global fusion industry has grown significantly. According to the U.S. Fusion Industry Association, the global fusion industry has garnered more than $6.2 billion in private investments, with the goal of rapidly accelerating the deployment of commercial fusion energy at scale. As the nascent commercial fusion industry continues to develop, the DIII-D National Fusion Facility research program has rapidly realigned to support the ambitious goal of accelerating fusion energy.

"DIII-D is purpose-driven to meet the needs of its User community to support achieving fusion in the fastest possible timeframe. We host more than 700 Users from over 100 institutions around the world, including a rapidly growing number of Users from industry, as we continually make improvements to the facility based on their research and development needs. Leveraging our world-class capabilities and hundreds of subject experts, we are proud to be a catalyst for the commercial fusion industry," said Dr. Wayne Solomon, Vice President of Magnetic Fusion Energy at General Atomics.

Of the more than 100 organizations participating in the DIII-D program, 16 are commercial entities, focusing on diverse topics such as plasma control, machine learning, and diagnostic technologies. One of the most recent commercial Users to join the DIII-D program is NVIDIA, which is using DIII-D's datasets to advance the development of their Digital Twin technology for fusion applications. Digital Twin-which refers to a high-fidelity virtual model of a system, utilizing real-time data from sensors to simulate, test, monitor, and model complex operations-is an essential computational technology for delivering commercially scalable fusion energy.

"DIII-D is instrumental in our development of a Digital Twin application to help solve the grand scientific challenge of fusion energy generation," said Tom Gibbs, Manager Developer Relations at NVIDIA. "Our efforts require a physical device with a robust data archive and measurement systems for testing and refinement, and the collaboration with DIII-D provides this needed platform. Our DIII-D partnership is essential to progressing from our current individual proof-of-concept tests to evaluation of the types of integrated artificial intelligence models needed for plasma control in commercial fusion devices. We look forward to seeing how we can continue to rapidly advance cutting-edge science and technology through our work with DIII-D."

The Largest Magnetic Fusion Research Machine in the U.S.

General Atomics operates the DIII-D Facility on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Its research team includes Users from U.S. national laboratories, academic institutions, and industry, who use DIII-D to explore a wide range of topics relevant to fusion energy. From fundamental plasma science to control process for fusion power plant operations, the DIII-D facility is a cornerstone of the U.S. fusion research program.

At the heart of the facility is the DIII-D tokamak, a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) vacuum chamber surrounded by powerful electromagnets. DIII-D's magnet system is used to shape and confine plasmas - a state of matter with large quantities of ionized particles - at temperatures exceeding 10 times those of the Sun. At these high temperatures, hydrogen isotopes fuse together and release energy.

"With every success, we use what we learned to improve the DIII-D machine to stay on the cutting edge and better serve our User base. No other tokamak system-planned or operating-is as flexible, as nimble, or as uniquely outfitted with specialized measurement systems. We are proud to use these capabilities to support industry's push to accelerate commercial fusion energy," added Dr. Buttery.

The interior of DIII-D. Following a major upgrade in 2024, the new systems and improvements help strengthen DIII-D's standing as one of the most flexible and capable magnetic fusion research facilities in the world.

DIII-D has been continually upgraded throughout its history, expanding its capabilities to serve as a testbed for the development of fusion technologies and scientific understanding. It recently completed an eight-month facility upgrade that further strengthened its standing as one of the most flexible and capable fusion research facilities in the world. The research campaign now being pursued with the newly upgraded device will help close key gaps between current experiments, the first fusion pilot plants (FPPs), and future fusion reactors.

These upgrades include systems for enhanced control of fusion plasmas; a range of new diagnostic instruments; enhanced capabilities for heating plasmas and driving the current that supports the fusion reaction; and enhancements to the divertor system that removes exhaust heat and impurities from the tokamak. Together, the new technologies will play a key role in resolving many issues that must be tackled to bring fusion energy to the electrical grid.

About General Atomics: Since the dawn of the atomic age, General Atomics innovations have advanced the state of the art across the full spectrum of science and technology - from nuclear energy and defense to medicine and high-performance computing. Behind a talented global team of scientists, engineers, and professionals, GA's unique experience and capabilities continue to deliver safe, sustainable, economical, and innovative solutions to meet growing global demands.

About the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. DIII-D is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the U.S. and has been the site of numerous pioneering contributions to the development of fusion energy science. DIII-D continues the drive toward practical fusion energy with critical research conducted in collaboration with more than 700 scientists representing over 100 institutions worldwide. As a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility, participation in DIII-D research is open to all interested parties. For more information, visit www.ga.com/diii-d.

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