ESC research group news

Power exhaust is one of the key challenges in nuclear fusion development. In his PhD research, Bob Kool explored the control of power exhaust in novel power exhaust solutions. His work showed that, in addition to improving power exhaust performance, these solutions also bring major advantages for power exhaust control.

To harness fusion energy on Earth, the fusion research community builds experimental reactors that trap fusion fuel and heat it to over 150 million degrees Celsius. Protecting the reactor wall from this extreme heat is a major challenge. In his research, PhD researcher Gijs Derks developed models to manage the interaction of hot fuel with the wall.

On February 11 it’s the ‘International day of women and girls in science’. A perfect occasion to put Loes Jansen in the spotlights. Since the summer of 2024 Loes works as a PhD candidate in the Energy Systems and Control group at DIFFER’s Fusion Energy department. What do escape rooms have to do with her career?

Fusion energy could provide clean, limitless electricity, but keeping fusion energy devices stable is incredibly complex. Scientists working on the UK fusion machine MAST Upgrade and at the Dutch research institute DIFFER have made important progress in two key areas.

International experiments at the UK fusion machine MAST Upgrade in Culham, led by Dutch researchers, demonstrate how the innovative 'Super-X' design offers major advantages in handling the heat exhaust of fusion energy machines. Successfully managing the exhaust is one of the major hurdles in realising fusion energy.