Visitors to DIFFER are often surprised to learn that the Dutch centre for fusion research does not have a fusion reactor of its own. Instead, the institute decided decades ago to specialise in answering a question that each and every participant in the global race towards fusion energy has to face.
What happens to materials during their lifetime in a fusion reactor? To answer that question, DIFFER built dedicated machines that recreate the conditions where intense fusion plasma touches a reactor wall.
DIFFER’s specialised facilities take a unique position in between fusion reactors and the table-top setups operated by smaller university groups. Says Hans van Eck, head of DIFFER’s facilities and instrumentation department: “Our facilities answer fusion-relevant questions at a level of detail you cannot manage anywhere else".
Indeed, a 2024 review of all the fusion-relevant experimental facilities in Europe by the EUROfusion consortium designated the DIFFER hardware as “indispensable” – the highest possible accolade. In addition to their value in designing the ideal wall for future fusion power plants, the DIFFER devices are also proving attractive to fields from fission energy to chemical energy storage.
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