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Engineering

Bypassing Carnot: the Direct Energy Conversion mandate

Editorial Board: if fusion is to undercut fission, the reactor must be a native electrical device — not a 19th-century boiler.

EDITORIAL — January 15, 2026

Engineering

Material Embrittlement: The Hidden OpEx Destroying D-T Commercial Models

Editorial Board: 14.1 MeV neutrons systematically destroy reactor steel. Any LCOE model ignoring remote-handled rebuilds is fiction.

EDITORIAL — November 25, 2025

Engineering

The Stellarator Renaissance: Can 3D Coils Ever Be Manufactured at Scale?

Editorial Board: elegant physics, catastrophic manufacturing. The winner in the 2030s will be the machine that can be mass-produced.

EDITORIAL — December 9, 2025

Engineering

Negative Triangularity: Eradicating ELMs by Reversing the D-Shape

Editorial Board: H-mode with positive triangularity is operational suicide. ELM-free negative triangularity must become the standard.

EDITORIAL — December 21, 2025

Engineering

Vertical Displacement Events (VDEs) in Highly Elongated (κ>2.5) Plasmas

Editorial Board: high elongation without sub-millisecond control is not a reactor—it is a self-destructing physics experiment.

EDITORIAL — January 7, 2026

Engineering

The Artificial Intelligence Mandate: Why Sub-Millisecond Control Loops Are Non-Negotiable

Editorial Board: in the 2030s, the software is the ultimate confinement field. PID controllers will not save a high-beta plasma.

EDITORIAL — January 22, 2026

Engineering

Ignition vs. Steady-State: The Flawed Focus on Q-Factor over Wall-Plug Efficiency

Editorial Board: Qplasma > 1 is the entry ticket, not the finish line. Without direct energy conversion, even Q > 20 cannot beat the Carnot limit.

EDITORIAL — February 10, 2026

Engineering

The 30-Tesla Threshold: Pushing REBCO Beyond Safe Engineering Limits

Editorial Board: B4 scaling is seductive, but B2 Lorentz forces will crush standard Hastelloy substrates. 30 T demands MP35N and carbon-fiber over-banding.

EDITORIAL — February 24, 2026

Engineering

Quench Protection in High-Temperature Superconductors: The Vanadium-Oxide Solution

Editorial Board: HTS quenches propagate at millimeters per second. Active voltage-tap dumping is too slow; passive VOx smart insulation is the only viable path.

EDITORIAL — March 10, 2026

Engineering

Structural Strain Management: MP35N Substrates and the 0.4% Delamination Cliff

Editorial Board: the difference between a failed startup and a power plant is managing micro-strain at 20 Kelvin. Hastelloy will not survive >30 T.

EDITORIAL — March 24, 2026

Engineering

Cryogenic Realities: 20K Closed-Loop Systems and Balance-of-Plant Parasitic Drains

Editorial Board: a 20K magnet is only viable if its cryoplant doesn't consume half the electricity produced. Neutron-free operation slashes parasitic loads.

EDITORIAL — April 21, 2026

Engineering

No-Insulation (NI) Coil Architectures: Current Sharing as a Double-Edged Sword

Editorial Board: bare-metal NI coils are a lab trick, not a grid backbone. Smart insulation—VOx layers—is the only viable commercial path.

EDITORIAL — May 19, 2026

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  1. [01]

    Fusion Industry Association — Annual Report

    FIA · 2025

  2. [02]

    DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program

    U.S. Department of Energy