The Tau-E Breakthrough (TauEB) project tackles one of Europe’s greatest challenges: delivering clean, safe, and sustainable energy to achieve climate neutrality and energy sovereignty. Nuclear fusion offers the potential of an abundant, zero-carbon energy source, supporting the European Green Deal, REPowerEU, and strategic autonomy. Yet, despite decades of investment, continuous fusion reactions remain elusive due to two critical requirements: plasma stability and long-term confinement with negligible leakage. Building on Novatron’s mirror fusion concept—which offers inherently stable plasma confinement—TauEB is investigating advanced plasma plugs to dramatically improve energy confinement time (τE). This step is essential for scaling the Novatron concept to a reactor that can deliver energy at a competitive Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). By achieving this, TauEB aims to accelerate fusion’s transition from research to commercial deployment, creating a multibillion-euro market and delivering major environmental, economic, and geopolitical benefits.
TauEB represents a paradigm shift in fusion technology by integrating three complementary methods into one system: magnetic confinement via Novatron’s magnetic mirrors, ambipolar plugging using electrostatic potentials within the plasma, and ponderomotive confinement through an external RF electric field. This combination is expected to improve energy confinement by two orders of magnitude—well beyond what is needed for cost-competitive fusion. The project will advance from TRL2 to TRL4 and generate patents across all three domains and their integration.
By overcoming the confinement challenge, TauEB will enable efficient, economically viable fusion reactors, supporting climate neutrality through near-zero emissions, creating a multibillion-euro industry that strengthens Europe’s competitiveness, and reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports to enhance strategic autonomy and energy security.
To deliver these outcomes, TauEB brings together a multidisciplinary consortium: KTH, NSC KIPT, and UKAEA contribute expertise in plasma physics, magnetic confinement, advanced simulations, RF heating, and diagnostics; NFG provides the Novatron concept and engineering capabilities; and KIC SE ensures robust innovation and exploitation strategies aligned with EU policy frameworks.
