New Zealand nuclear fusion reactor's magnetic breakthrough

OpenStar Technologies has become the first commercial company in the world to create and confine a plasma using a floating half-tonne magnet. The New Zealand-based company demonstrated the technology this week at a public event with its prototype device called Junior. Company founder and chief executive Ratu Mataira said the demonstration shows clearly that dipoles are not impossible to engineer. He noted that seeing the magnet levitate while confining plasma is a consequential step from inspired physics to tangible engineering reality. The result serves as a proof of concept that the technology is viable and can be scaled up to commercial levels. The startup aims to have commercial devices in production by the 2030s. With Junior the company has shown that dipoles have a serious place in the global fusion race. Its next prototype device Tahi will have a magnetic field four times stronger than its predecessor and will perform at up to 20 Tesla. New Zealand's government has pledged $NZ35 million to support Tahi's development. Columbia University professor emeritus Michael Mauel said the levitation of the Junior magnet marks an important milestone for superconducting magnet technology and a big step to steady fusion power.