For decades, fusion energy has held the promise of a revolutionary power source that is clean, safe, and virtually limitless.

Unlike fossil fuels or even traditional nuclear power, nuclear fusion mimics the energy production of the Sun. Atomic nuclei fuse together to release massive amounts of energy without greenhouse gas emissions or long-lived radioactive waste.

However, one serious problem has kept this dream out of reach. That is the inability to reliably contain high-energy particles inside fusion reactors.

These particles are essential to keeping the plasma hot enough for sustained fusion. However, they tend to escape through holes in the reactor’s magnetic field, draining energy and halting the reaction.

Now, a team of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Type One Energy Group have developed a faster, more accurate way to fix those magnetic flaws. This could accelerate the development of stellarators, one of the most promising fusion reactor designs, by a factor of ten.

Fusion reactors require a superheated plasma confined within strong magnetic fields. An important issue has been the escape of high-energy alpha particles, which are supposed to help maintain the plasma’s heat and pressure. When these particles leak, they weaken the reaction which prevents the conditions necessary for sustained fusion.

However, these magnetic fields often contain ‘holes’ through which alpha particles escape. Finding and correcting these flaws using traditional methods based on Newton’s laws is computationally intensive and slow. The design process becomes cumbersome as engineers need to simulate and test hundreds of variations in the configuration of the coils.

To make the process more manageable, scientists have used a faster but far less accurate technique called perturbation theory, which often leads to serious errors.

The new method, developed by the research team and detailed in their recent paper, uses symmetry theory to locate and eliminate magnetic holes while requiring just a tenth of the computational power.

Josh Burby is an assistant professor of physics at UT and first author of the paper. He said, “What’s most exciting is that we’re solving something that’s been an open problem for almost 70 years. It’s a paradigm shift in how we design these reactors.”

Although the method was designed for stellarators, its applications also extend to tokamaks which are the more widely studied cousin of stellarators.

In tokamaks, the danger lies in runaway electrons, which can puncture the walls of the reactor if not properly contained. The new technique can help find the weak spots in magnetic fields, potentially improving reactor safety and durability.

Burby said, “There is currently no practical way to find a theoretical answer to the alpha-particle confinement question without our results. Direct application of Newton’s laws is too expensive. Perturbation methods commit gross errors. Ours is the first theory that circumvents these pitfalls.”.

This breakthrough not only solves a specific technical bottleneck but also provides an important tool for companies racing to commercialize fusion power.

Type One Energy Group contributed to the research. It is working to construct next-generation stellarators for energy production.

Type One Energy Group

Javed Ashraf Qazi is the former Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence, and a former senator during the Musharraf administration. He voiced grave concern over the rapidly deteriorating relationship between India and Pakistan, especially in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir.

Qazi warned that the ongoing increase of hostility between the two nuclear-armed neighbors risks triggering a catastrophic conflict. He stated, “India had been threatening Pakistan with unrest in Baluchistan. After a train was hijacked in Baluchistan, it was confirmed that Baluch insurgents had been funded and instigated by India.”.

He further noted that Pakistan had long been dealing with cross-border terrorism, particularly through Afghanistan. “We have been constantly facing the Taliban terrorists hitting our civilian population.”. Qazi pointing to a pattern of sustained external aggression.

He continued that the relations between the two countries had significantly worsened following India’s unilateral move to absorb Kashmir into its territory, in defiance of UN resolutions. He emphasized, “Kashmiris have been fighting India for the last twenty years. There have been killings on both sides. India blames Pakistan for supporting the Kashmiri population, which is a Muslim-majority state forcibly absorbed by India.”.

Qazi pointed out that many small groups of Kashmiris continue to resist Indian forces, fighting them in forests and mountains. Referring to the April 22^nd attack in Pahalgam, he said, “A small group of five or six Kashmiris attacked passengers of a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims to a shrine. Reportedly, 26 Hindu passengers and two Muslim drivers were killed.”. He said that within minutes of the incident in Kashmir, India had blamed Pakistan and vowed retaliation.

He had serious concerns over India’s immediate military response, “Pakistan’s river water was threatened to be blocked despite an international treaty. Indian forces have taken an offensive posture. Their Air Force is flying round-the-clock over the border.”.

Qazi lamented the lack of serious dialogue between the two sides. “Pakistan has asked for proof, even just one terrorist shown to the media — but India has shut the border crossings and ordered all Pakistanis in India to leave. They are preparing to attack and refusing to talk.”.

Highlighting the nuclear dimension of the conflict, the former ISI chief warned, “Both countries are nuclear weapon states. A war could lead to nuclear devastation — not just of our two nations, but of the entire region. The nuclear cloud can spread beyond hundreds of miles. In Japan, only two bombs were dropped and the consequences are visible even today. India and Pakistan have more than 170 bombs each. It is horrible to imagine a war with such an arsenal.”.

Qazi believes that India is using the current situation in Kashmir to assert itself as a regional hegemon. He also said that the global community cannot remain a bystander. “This incident of Pahalgam — 26 tourist killings — pales when compared to the ongoing Muslim killings in India over the past many years,” he said. “The UN Security Council must take immediate notice and defuse the situation before it leads to a nuclear winter. Time is running out.”.

Kashmir