AI predicts fusion plasma instability 200 ms early, stops it in time
Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have successfully used AI to predict and prevent fusion plasma instabilities 200 milliseconds before they occur. This advancement is a significant step toward achieving stable, reliable fusion energy.
Why it matters
Controlling plasma instability is the primary hurdle to making fusion a viable, clean, and inexhaustible energy source.
Inside a steel vault at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a superheated whirl of charged particles spins in near vacuum, held in place by invisible magnetic fields. This is a fusion plasma, the same kind of matter that powers the Sun, and it is notoriously difficult to control.In a recent breakthrough, researchers handed part of that control to an artificial intelligence (AI) system that makes decisions every 20 milliseconds, far faster than any human operator could manage. In one critical test, the AI spotted the early signs of a dangerous instability a full 200 milliseconds before it would have erupted and adjusted the magnets in time to prevent it.
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