A conventional tokamak sits in the middle of a test fusion cell at the DOE's National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade site. Photo by DOE/PPPL

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Scientists and the Department of Energy officials remain committed to fusion energy, a technology that in theory would mimic the sun, offering an almost endless supply of energy.

There are several hurdles currently preventing the dream of fusion energy from being realized. Scientists are still trying to figure out how to ignite a stellar core-like ball of plasma. In other words, they still unable to actually trigger fusion.


If and when fusion is created, scientists must have a suitable container. The flaming ball of plasma must be safely contained.

A new study, published this week in the journal Nuclear Fusion, offers a detailed look at researchers latest concept container. Physicists at the DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory hope compact spherical tokamaks will create and contain fusion energy in the near future.

Scientists have dubbed the container "a star in a jar."

The spherical shape of the new tokamaks will allow for a smaller hole in which to hold and shape the plasma, allowing engineers to deploy slightly less powerful magnetic fields.

Scientists hope to fuse tritium with deuterium -- two hydrogen isotopes -- in order to produce stellar fusion in the next generation of tokamaks.

"The main reason we research spherical tokamaks is to find a way to produce fusion at much less cost than conventional tokamaks require," Ian Chapman, CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, said in a news release.

Chapman and his colleagues at the Culham Science Centre collaborated with PPPL researchers on the newly published tokamaks study.

The spherical tokamaks are expected to become the centerpieces of two planned DOE testing facilities currently in the works.

"[The facilities] will push the physics frontier, expand our knowledge of high temperature plasmas, and, if successful, lay the scientific foundation for fusion development paths based on more compact designs," said PPPL Director Stewart Prager.