As the world moves away from traditional energy sources based on fossil fuels, several alternatives have been explored. One promising clean energy source is nuclear fusion. The fusion of hydrogen atoms may provide generous consumable energy gains. However, nuclear fusion reactors are not ready to become a productive mechanism yet. To accelerate the required breakthroughs in that community, numerical simulations and scientific visualizations over high-performance computing systems are mandatory. The results from the simulations and a proper display of the data are key to design and tune up nuclear fusion reactors. We explore the scientific visualization of plasma confinement in this paper, presenting two different dimensions. First, we revisit how visualizations help scientists understand the phenomena behind the fundamental processes of nuclear fusion. Second, we explore how visualization may also work as scientific communication tools for the general public to grasp the impact of this endeavor. We introduce a computer-graphics model that uses the output of numerical simulations to create visually plausible images of plasma confinement. The model is based on a combination of computer graphics techniques implemented on a ray-tracing framework.
