tech

December 15, 2025

Accelerating fusion science through learned plasma control

Successfully controlling the nuclear fusion plasma in a tokamak with deep reinforcement learning

Accelerating fusion science through learned plasma control

TL;DR

  • A deep reinforcement learning system has been developed to autonomously control tokamak magnetic coils.
  • This AI successfully contained and sculpted nuclear fusion plasma in the TCV tokamak.
  • The system learned to manipulate plasma into specific shapes, aiding fusion energy research.
  • Training utilized simulations due to experimental limitations, followed by validation on real hardware.
  • The AI uses a single neural network to control all magnetic coils simultaneously, simplifying previous complex systems.
  • Demonstrated capabilities include shaping plasma for energy generation, creating a 'snowflake' shape, and stabilizing a 'droplet' configuration with two plasmas.
  • The release of the TORAX plasma simulator in May 2024 further enhances the ability to train advanced AI controllers.
  • This advancement has potential applications beyond fusion, including energy efficiency and personalized medicine.

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