From HSX to Commercial Fusion

media release: The Wisconsin Energy Institute helps facilitate a seminar series focused on UW–Madison expertise in sustainable energy. The series provides students and the public with the opportunity to explore sustainable energy solutions, learn about the challenges facing sustainable energy, and interact with experts from across campus.

This seminar is offered online via Zoom webinar, and registration is required. You can register once and receive access to all seven Fall 2026 seminars using this registration link.

Join us on September 28 at 3:30 p.m. for this Sustainable Energy Seminar presentation by Benedikt Geiger, associate professor of nuclear engineering and engineering physics.

Abstract

Driven by accelerating private sector involvement, thermonuclear fusion energy development is advancing rapidly. Most commercial designs target deuterium-tritium (D-T) reactions, which fuse at temperatures exceeding 150 million degrees to produce helium and a high-energy neutron. Magnetic confinement fusion utilizing electromagnetic coils to build a magnetic "cage" for the superheated plasma is one approach to sustaining these extreme conditions. This webinar introduces the fundamentals of magnetic confinement fusion power plants, then delves into the specialized magnetic fields generated by stellarators. Finally, we highlight the Helically Symmetric Experiment (HSX) at UW–Madison’s College of Engineering, detailing its experimental parameters and demonstrating how HSX addresses core challenges facing scalable fusion power.

Upcoming seminar details can be found here: https://energy.wisc.edu/events/seminar-series 

Archives of past seminars can be found here: https://energy.wisc.edu/events/seminar-series-archive 

The YouTube video playlist of past seminars can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5KvDvGhamVophFSGmWflU0PHpAPooO-u