Novatron Fusion Group Scientific Paper Charts ‘1000-Fold Efficiency Boost’ for Mirror Machine Technology
(L-R) Rickard Holmberg, Kristoffer Lindvall, Katarina Bendtz, and Jan Scheffel.
Novatron Fusion Group has a Scientific Paper released in the peer reviewed journal Nuclear Fusion, detailing a revolutionary “triple-force” approach to axial confinement, positioning mirror machines as serious contenders in the global fusion race.
The paper, titled “Axial confinement in the Novatron mirror machine,” marks a bold step forward in the pursuit of clean, limitless energy - and a promising glimpse into the fusion-powered future.
Co-authors include Novatron Fusion Group team members - Jan Scheffel, Katarina Bendtz, Rickard Holmberg, Kristoffer Lindvall and Novatron Inventor and Chief Technology Officer Jan Jäderberg.
It presents a novel method for confining plasma - hot, ionized gas essential for fusion -using an advanced form of magnetic mirror technology. The innovation centres on Novatron Fusion Group’s proprietary "triple-force" approach, which could improve the efficiency of plasma confinement by a factor of up to 1000, making magnetic mirror machines a game-changing candidate for scalable, clean fusion energy.
The journal, Nuclear Fusion, is jointly produced by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and IOP Publishing. First released in 1960, it covers all aspects of research, theoretical and practical, relevant to controlled thermonuclear fusion.
Cracking the Fusion Code
Nuclear fusion - the same energy process that powers the sun - has long been the holy grail of energy research. By fusing hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium, scientists can release vast amounts of clean energy with minimal environmental impact. But fusion requires extreme conditions: high density plasma heated to about 100 million degrees, and confined long enough for reactions to occur efficiently.
Since the 1950s, researchers have sought ways to keep this hot plasma stable and contained. One of the earliest and most promising concepts was magnetic confinement, in which magnetic fields are used to prevent plasma from escaping from the device. Among magnetic confinement schemes, magnetic mirror machines - where particles bounce between two strong magnetic field regions - were once a leading candidate. However, early versions were plagued by "axial losses," where energetic particles escaped along magnetic field lines through the ends of the device, rendering sustained fusion impossible.
Enter the Novatron Solution
The Novatron Fusion Group team has now addressed this decades-old problem with a comprehensive strategy that combines:
1. Magnetic mirror fields to reflect and trap most plasma particles;
2. Electrostatic ambipolar potentials: electric fields that resist particle escape;
3. Ponderomotive forces—a lesser-known mechanism induced by oscillating radio-frequency electric fields—to further hinder particle loss.
This combined approach significantly enhances axial confinement, the critical requirement for sustaining plasma long enough to achieve high energy gain.
According to the new study, the theoretical model suggests that with this method, mirror-based fusion reactors using deuterium-tritium fuel could reach Q-values - the ratio of energy output from the fusion reactions to the energy required to be inputted to heat the plasma - of up to 1000. For comparison, conventional mirror machines typically fall far short of Q = 1. A Q of 30 or higher is considered the benchmark for economic, commercial fusion power.
Novatron Inventor and Chief Technology Officer Jan Jäderberg.
A New Contender in the Fusion Race
With the world’s energy demand soaring and the urgency of decarbonization growing, Novatron Fusion Group’s research represents a timely and potentially transformative development.
A company spokesperson said the Novatron concept will help reshape the fusion landscape, offering a simpler, more scalable alternative to more complex tokamak and stellarator reactors. “This research is the culmination of years of collaborative innovation, merging classical fusion theory with cutting-edge physics. What we’ve demonstrated is that magnetic mirrors, once written off, can not only work, but potentially outperform other confinement systems by orders of magnitude. The triple-force concept opens a new path to achieving the energy gains necessary for commercial fusion. It’s an exciting time, and we believe this work could help reshape how the world thinks about fusion technology and its role in a sustainable energy future.”
