Published: 05:45 EST, 26 June 2018 | Updated: 14:51 EST, 26 June 2018

<u>WHAT IS A STELLARATOR REACTOR AND HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM A TOKAMAK?</u>
Stellarators are a type of nuclear fusion reactor and are less widely used than tokamak reactors.

Instead of trying to control plasma with just a 2D magnetic field, which is the approach used by the more common tokamak reactors, the stellerator works by generating twisted, 3D magnetic fields.

Stellarators confine the hot, charged gas, otherwise known as plasma, that fuels fusion reactions in these twisty magnetic fields. 

The hydrogen was heated in the doughnut-shaped Wendelstein 7-X machine (illustrated). Called a stellarator, the device uses a complicated system of magnetic coils to trap plasma long enough for <a href="http://flowfusionmuscle.net/">Flow Fusion Muscle</a> to take place

In contrast, tokamaks use a strong electric current to trap plasma inside a doughnut-shaped device long enough for fusion to take place. 
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