Bruker BEST and Luvata Partner to Scale Superconductors for Fusion Energy

Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies (BEST), a segment of Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR), and Luvata Materials & Solutions, a Business Unit of Luvata Group (LUVATA), announced a strategic collaboration to support the rapidly growing demand for superconducting materials and technologies required by next-generation magnetic confinement fusion power demonstration plant projects worldwide.

The BEST-LUVATA collaboration aims to further strengthen and expand industrial readiness and availability of high-performance RRP superconductors to significantly upscale global manufacturing capacity, enhance supply chain flexibility and resilience, and to increase industry's ability to meet the demanding requirements of large-scale, high-field magnetic confinement fusion programs.

Clean, safe and inexhaustible fusion energy has generated unprecedented interest in recent years to power AI, GDP growth and human technological and industrial activities for the future. The most mature fusion technologies require superconductors to confine the energy-producing plasma, which is hotter than the core of the sun. Next-generation RRP superconductors are ideally suited for large and critical projects involving tokamaks and stellarators because of their high-performance, high current-carrying capacity, robustness and material strength, and availability in industrial quantities.

RRP stands for Rod-Restack Process, an advanced manufacturing technology to produce the highest-performance niobium-tin (Nb₃Sn) superconducting wires with high critical current density (J_c) for high magnetic fields of 12 to 20 Tesla. RRP superconductors have been successfully deployed in the LHC at CERN, in ultra-high-field NMR magnets, and in high-field magnet tokamak fusion projects.

Both BEST and LUVATA have extensive experience in advanced superconducting applications and a strong track record of supporting landmark fusion projects worldwide. Together, they previously contributed materials, manufacturing expertise, and technological know-how to major international programs, such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) and the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, the world's most advanced superconducting plasma physics facilities.

"The future of fusion energy will depend not only on scientific breakthroughs, but also on the availability of a robust industrial ecosystem capable of delivering reliable high-performance superconductor products at scale," said Dr Burkhard Prause, President & Chief Executive Officer of Bruker Energy and Supercon Technologies. "By leveraging our complementary capabilities in scaling production for our high-performance and proven RRP superconductors, we aim to further strengthen global superconducting supply chains and support our fusion project customers worldwide."

Major fusion programs are underway in Europe, America, China, Japan, and South Korea. These initiatives are driving demand for proven, robust superconducting technologies and experienced large-scale manufacturing partners. The upcoming high-field tokamak and stellarator demand will surpass previous large projects, which were aimed at advancing plasma physics and fusion pilot know-how. For example, Gauss Fusion is evaluating RRP for its high-field stellarator Gauss Industrial Demonstrator and its GIGA fusion power plant platform.

"The fusion sector is entering an exciting phase of growth and industrialisation," said Dr Antti Kilpinen, Executive Vice President – Superconductors, at Luvata Materials & Solutions. "The emergence of large-scale fusion programs creates a significant opportunity for experienced industrial partners to contribute to the fusion energy industry's development. Together, we aim to strengthen the availability of reliable superconductors for customer success in executing ambitious fusion energy projects."