Lithium is considered a key ingredient in the future commercial fusion power plants known as tokamaks, and there are several ways to use this metal to enhance the process. But a key question remained: How much does it impact the amount of fuel trapped in the walls of tokamaks?
The study also found that the thickness of the lithium coating applied before a plasma shot did not significantly affect how much fuel was trapped. “It turns out there’s little impact in making these coatings extra thick,” said Maria Morbey, lead author on the study and a doctoral degree candidate with the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER) and the Eindhoven University of Technology. “Most of the fuel retention happens when lithium is added during the plasma shot — not beforehand.”
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