3D magnetic field ‘breakthrough’ for fusion plasma control wins US award

Three researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)—Seong-Moo Yang, SangKyeun Kim, and Ricardo Shousha—have been awarded the 2025 Kaul Foundation Prize for their pioneering work in optimizing three-dimensional (3D) magnetic fields within tokamaks to control edge instabilities in fusion plasma. Their approach uses real-time artificial intelligence (AI) adjustments to proactively prevent plasma instabilities, such as tearing mode disruptions, which can damage the tokamak and halt the fusion process. This marks a significant advancement over traditional methods that react only after instabilities occur. The team’s research highlights the advantages of 3D magnetic fields over conventional two-dimensional fields for maintaining plasma stability. Due to the complexity of calculating and optimizing these fields, they employed machine learning to forecast potential instabilities and make micro-adjustments in real time. This AI-driven method was validated through international collaboration, incorporating experimental data from South Korea’s KSTAR and the DIII