# Realta and UW-Madison's WHAM holds plasma at 17 tesla, the first HTS-magnet mirror

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/realta-and-uw-madison-s-wham-holds-plasma-at-17-tesla-the-first-hts-3386ce6b
Date: 18 Jul 2024
About: [Realta Fusion](https://technooptimist.io/companies/realta-fusion.md) · [CoSMo mirror fusion (WHAM to Hammir)](https://technooptimist.io/energy/cosmo-mirror-fusion.md)
Original source: https://ans.org/news/article-6242/wham-realta-gets-first-plasma-with-17-tesla-magnets-in-mirror-fusion-test

WHAM, the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror built by UW-Madison with Realta, made its first plasma on 15 July 2024 using 17-tesla high-temperature superconducting magnets from Commonwealth Fusion Systems. It was the first use of such magnets in a magnetic mirror, an idea from the 1950s that stalled on technical problems.

## Key facts

- Magnets delivered on 1 July; installed, cooled and energised by 15 July.
- Plasma started with a 110 GHz microwave beam.
- WHAM began with a $10M ARPA-E grant in 2020; Realta now provides most of its funding.

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