Scientists at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are testing a new way to make fusion energy more efficient by quite literally putting a “spin” on nuclear fuel. By aligning the particles in the fuel through a process called spin polarization, researchers believe they can significantly boost the energy from fusion reactions.

A Specialized Fuel For Fusion Energy

Think of subatomic particles like tiny, spinning gyroscopes that bounce around in different directions. However, if you expose them to intense magnets and temperatures colder than deep space, you can align them. When they all spin the same way, they are “polarized.”

The team wants to see if this alignment can survive inside a plasma reaching 100 million degrees. If it does, it makes it much easier for atoms to smash into each other.

“Say you’ve got all these atoms swirling around in the plasma,” said Phillip Dobrenz, a Jefferson Lab staff engineer. “By polarizing them, you make the so-called ‘surface area’ of each atom larger so that they have more likelihood of hitting one another and creating fusion. You can get more reactions per unit time, with a lower density.”

A Big Win For Clean Energy

If this works, there are significant implications for the future of clean energy. Theory suggests that polarized fuel could increase the chance of a reaction by 50%, which would jump the total energy output by 70-80%. This would allow us to build smaller, cheaper fusion devices, similar to small modular reactors for nuclear fission energy.

“The ultimate goal is being able to harvest energy using the minimum amount of material,” explained Xiangdong Wei, a Jefferson Lab physicist. “With the right alignment, a little bit of fuel can produce a much bigger fire, and you can use that energy for the next round of fusion.”

The project is a team effort involving several universities and national labs. They are currently building the specialized refrigerators and magnets needed to prep the fuel. Actual testing is expected to start around 2027 at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility.

“If successful, this experiment could set off a surge of attempts to make it commercially available,” Dobrenz added. “The project’s success would sprout a research field within the fusion industry.”