[hobscoop]

No currently operating device is 'attempting' to achieve Q_total; they are all physics experiments, not simply searching for a magic combination of knobs that will ignite the plasma.

The Europeans are doing quite a bit of preliminary design scoping and engineering for DEMO, a 'demonstration' reactor which is supposed to come after ITER and generate net electricity, but there's not been a site selected, for example. Similarly, Chinese researchers are working on their CFETR, 'Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor'.

[ben_w]

Those are all (government funded?) mega-projects.

I’m not talking about that category.

I’m talking about private sector stuff by groups which claim developments in superconductors means they can do it privately for much less, e.g.: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/mit-backed-fusion-st...

I lack the knowledge to tell real projects in this sector from snake oil.