ZETA (fusion reactor)
（重定向自Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly）
![The ZETA device at Harwell. The toroidal confinement tube is roughly centered, surrounded by a series of stabilizing magnets (silver rings). The much larger peanut shaped device is the magnet used to induce the pinch current in the tube.](/Images/godic/202502/22/Zeta_UKAEA1445.JPG")
![This lightning rod was crushed when a large current passed through it. Studying this and similar rods led to the discovery of the pinch effect.](/Images/godic/202502/22/Crushed_rod_pollock_barraclough1445.jpg")
![Perhaps the earliest photograph of the kink instability in action – the 3 by 25 pyrex tube at Aldermaston](/Images/godic/202502/22/Kink_instability_at_Aldermaston1445.jpg")
ZETA, short for "Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly", was a major experiment in the early history of fusion power research. It was the ultimate device in a series of UK designs using the Z-pinch confinement technique, and the first large-scale fusion machine to be built. ZETA sparked an intense national rivalry with the United States pinch and stellarator programs, and as ZETA was much larger and more powerful than US machines, it was expected that it would put the UK in the lead in the fusion race.