HC Starck Tungsten, based in Goslar, Germany, is developing specialised tungsten powders as a vital component to help build what is reportedly Germany’s first fusion reactor. The project is part of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space’s (BMFTR) multi-billion-euro Fusion 2040 funding programme, which aims to bring the first power plants based on this revolutionary technology into operation around 2040.

The company will supply tungsten metal powders for producing assemblies that line the interior walls of the fusion reactor. This lining, known as the ‘first wall’, shields the reactor structure from the plasma burning inside the reactor, which reaches temperatures of approximately 100 million °C.