Watch above: Researchers hope to answer questions on how to maximize conditions to create fusion using facilities at the University of Saskatchewan.
SASKATOON – International researchers are conducting a number of nuclear fusion experiments at the University of Saskatchewan. The researchers from Canada and eight other countries are conducting eight experiments, focusing on how to maximize the conditions for fusion to occur.
Fusion is a reaction that powers stars like the sun. Experts hope they can replicate this on Earth to create carbon-free energy.
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They say teamwork is crucial for that to eventually happen.
“Without the collaboration, the fusion research would probably never move to where it is now,” said Tomas Markovic, a Czech fusion researcher.
“Even in the beginnings, the fusion research started as collaboration between large countries.”
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The experiments explore how to keep the plasma cloud stable while soaking it with hydrogen fuel and maximizing conditions for fusion to occur. The results will be used in the design of full-sized fusion reactors.
Researchers are using a device called a tokamak to help carry out their experiments. A tokamak safely generates and stores a doughnut-shaped cloud of superheated gas or plasma, and atomic nuclei within the plasma in attempts to fuse them together, creating heavier atoms and releasing energy.
The University of Saskatchewan is the only university in Canada with a tokamak.
The researchers will conduct their final work on Friday.
Joel Senick contributed to this story
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