• SPECIAL TOPIC: POWER GENERATION •
Fusion: Harnessing the power of
Fusion is the same process that powers the sun and stars. It is environmentally friendly, safe, and capable of sustaining the planet for thousands of years. Currently, about ninety nuclear fusion reactors are operating worldwide, and scientists across the globe are racing to achieve sustainable, commercial-level fusion energy.
• By Joanne McIntyre, Stainless Steel World
Fusion works by fusing two light elements together, creating a new element with an aggregate mass slightly less than the combined mass of the original two elements. This tiny difference in mass drives a tremendous release of energy. Fusion does not generate long-lived nuclear waste, emit greenhouse gases, or pose a meltdown risk, and uses abundant, non-radioactive fuel. Yet successfully turning the theory into commercial reality has proven time consuming and expensive.
The idea has been around since the late 1950s, but it has moved forward dramatically in recent years to meet the growing demand for environmentally sustainable forms of energy. The successful implementation of commercial fusion power generation would give the world a seismic final push to meet the United Nations’ 2050 climate goals if implemented broadly and quickly. This would allow fusion to become the greenest, cleanest, and most affordable energy source for the planet.
Tokamaks, stellarators, accelerators The most common fusion reactors are tokamaks and stellarators, which use strong magnets in the reactors to keep the ions confined. Currently, these
The interior of the JET reactor. Image © United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
are the most promising concepts for future fusion energy plants. Tokamaks are donut-shaped toroidal chambers with magnetic coils; twisting the magnets can also produce the helical shape without the need for a transformer— this kind of configuration is called a stellarator. As stellarator configurations are challenging to build, most fusion experiments today are tokamaks.
In a stellarator reactor, the magnets are twisted to produce the helical shape without the need for a transformer. Image: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Germany.
Both reactor types make use of the fact that charged particles react to magnetic forces. Strong magnets in the reactors keep the ions confined. Electrons are also bound by the reactors’ forces and play a role in the surroundings. The magnetic forces constantly spin the particles around their doughnut-shaped reactor chambers to prevent them from escaping the plasma.
The U. S. company TAE has developed accelerator technology for its unique fusion reactor design.
On the grid by 2035? In its Global Fusion Industry Report 2025, the Fusion Industry Association( FIA), which represents private companies pursuing fusion technology, stated that, of 53 fusion companies, 53 % think their fusion plants will deliver electricity to the grid by 2035.
38 Stainless Steel World Americas | June 2026 | ssw-americas. com