Does it kill the idea of a tokamak as an energy production device? As in a stellarator proving the much more promising design...
replies(7):
- Those designs have been in parallel R&D for decades
- Tokamaks are conceptually simpler, thus might be easier/faster/cheaper to make into viable installations
- Stellarators are WAAAAAY more complex to design and build but AFAIU they would have the huge benefit of being able to sustain the plasma for way longer for the same "startup cost" of a cycle since the particles of the plasma are routed somewhat like they're on a mobius strip instead of a simple torus (which should make it easier to confine more particles for a longer time).
I recall having read (several years ago) that the simulation technology of the 90's wasn't really up to the task of aiding in the design of those weird wavy magnets for Wendelstein 7-X, an unfortunate reality which delayed the project a lot.