Naka, Ibaraki Pref. ¨C Scientist Shunsuke Ide points to the large screen in the control room of the JT-60SA, a giant device for nuclear fusion experiments in a rural municipality northeast of Tokyo that is preparing for its first run. A demonstration video shows how the plasma crucial to the process is generated.
¡°Ten seconds before the discharge,¡± an automated female voice announces in English. ¡°Five, four, three, two, one, zero!¡±
At this moment, a video taken from inside the vacuum vessel of the JT-60SA¡¯s predecessor pops up, showing how plasma forms as hydrogen isotopes are heated to over 100 million degrees Celsius, alongside a computer simulation of the pink plasma inside the orange-shaped device.
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