from Purdue University have found mechanisms that are vital to
interactions between surfaces inside a thermonuclear fusion
reactor and hot plasma, which could lead to the development of
coatings capable of tolerating radiation damage and ultimately,
fusion power plants. inner lining of a fusion reactor often
faces horrific conditions leading to radiation damage due to the
hot plasma. With the use of nanotechnology, nuclear engineers
are looking to "define" small features in the coating as a way
to understand and develop a new material that can come in
contact with plasma and not be harmed. Finding a material
durable enough to withstand such harsh conditions has been
difficult, until now. with researchers at Princeton University
in the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Purdue researchers
are using the National Spherical Torus Experiment to test
materials, which is the country's only spherical tokamak
reactor. They will also study materials in a special "plasma-
materials interface probe," then transfer these