The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 6th that it has secured key technologies to enhance plasma operation stability through joint research with the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, utilizing the superconducting fusion research device (KSTAR), known as 'Korea's artificial sun.'
The inner wall of the fusion device is directly exposed to ultra-high temperature plasma, which is why tungsten, resistant to heat, is gaining attention as the next-generation interior material. In 2023, KSTAR replaced its core internal component, the 'divertor,' with tungsten material, and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is also pursuing the application of tungsten for its inner wall.
However, when tungsten particles flow into the plasma during high-temperature plasma operation, it can affect the operational stability of the device and the performance of the plasma, making the technology to control this issue an internationally important research topic.
Through this joint research, the team observed for the first time that injecting boron powder into ultra-high temperature plasma in real-time reduces the amount of tungsten impurities generated from the inner wall of the fusion reactor and confirmed that it can actively control the inner wall condition without stopping operations.
This achievement is the result of international joint research through close cooperation between Korean and American researchers based on KSTAR. Since signing the 'Korea-U.S. Fusion Research Cooperation Implementation Agreement' in 2010, the two countries have continued joint research in various fields, including tokamak physics and plasma-wall interaction control.
Jung Taek-ryeol, public fusion research policy officer at the Ministry of Science and ICT, noted, "This research is a case in which core technologies for fusion have been derived based on accumulated cooperation and trust, demonstrating the importance of technology enhancement through international collaboration." He added, "The government will actively support the continuous acquisition of experimental results using domestic infrastructure like KSTAR, ensuring that these achievements lead to key technologies for accelerating the realization of fusion energy and taking a leading role in future fusion research."
The research results were published on July 25 in the international journal 'Nuclear Fusion' in the field of fusion.
References
Nuclear Fusion(2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/adf123