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A stellarator is a device used to confine a hot plasma with
magnetic fields in order to sustain a controlled nuclear fusion
reaction. The magnetic field necessary to confine the plasma is
completely generated by external coils. It was invented by Lyman Spitzer
and the first devices were built at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in 1951. The
name was given to this early fusion concept because of the possibility of harnessing the power source of the sun.
See also: Plasma physics, Nuclear fusion, fusion power, Tokamak, Reversed field
pinch, Magnetic mirror, Wendelstein
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