“But instability breeds in extreme conditions. The plasma is wildly unruly and often tries to escape the reactor,” highlighted the press release.

“One severe byproduct of this instability is runaway electrons.”

‘Tungsten shotgun’ for runaway electrons
These electrons, accelerated to near-light speed, can escape the magnetic fields designed to contain them and collide with the reactor walls.

These collisions can cause significant damage, potentially leading to costly repairs and operational downtime.

“It isn’t damage over time. In one event, the beam can punch a hole in a solid tungsten wall, damaging the subsurface cooling mechanism beneath,” remarked Michael Lively, a fusion expert at Los Alamos, who has proposed a solution to this issue.

Lively suggests the implementation of a “tungsten shotgun.”