Although SPARC is still under construction, research at this facility has contributed to world-leading science by 1) providing solutions to physics and operational issues critical to the success of tokamak fusion pilot plants and 2) advancing the fundamental understanding and predictive capability of fusion science. CFS also has advanced the understanding of practical tokamaks by publishing SPARC’s physics basis.
SPARC in particular offers a unique platform to investigate:
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets: SPARC uses REBCO HTS magnets, which can generate magnetic fields of ~20 tesla—much stronger than conventional tokamak magnets. Higher magnetic field strength allows smaller device size, higher plasma pressure and a potentially faster path to fusion-relevant performance.
Compact design philosophy: traditional tokamaks scale up in size to improve performance. SPARC instead relies on stronger magnetic fields to achieve similar or superior plasma conditions in a much smaller volume. This potentially benefits construction feasibility, power plant economics, and energy density and offers a unique platform to investigate many key aspects of tokamak physics.
Net fusion energy: unlike experimental tokamaks focused on plasma physics alone, SPARC is explicitly designed to produce deuterium-tritium fusion that can demonstrate net fusion energy and validate the physics and engineering assumptions needed for a power plant. SPARC is designed to ultimately reach a performance level of Q=11.
