PPPL DIGESTS

In Situ Production of Radionuclide Technetium-99m

Researchers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have developed a new process for the production of Molybdenum 99 (Mo-99), a man made radionuclide which decays (T ½ = 66 hours) to Technetium-99m (Tc-99m). Tc-99 m is a radioactive tracer isotope, used in the nuclear medical field for diagnostic imaging, for 2/3 of all diagnostic medical isotope procedures In the United States. Tc-99m has a relatively short half life of 6 hours, which makes it ideal in medical diagnostic tests where the patient only retains a minimal amount of radiation from the examination.    View Digest

X-ray Crystal Spectrometer Makes Debut at C-Mod

A PPPL/Alcator C-Mod collaboration has resulted in the demonstration of a greatly improved X-ray crystal spectrometer for application to ITER and fusion reactors. Experiments conducted by a PPPL/MIT team in April mark the beginning of a new era in the ability of such devices to determine radial profiles of the ion temperature and the rotational velocity of high temperature plasmas without the need for diagnostic beams. Their success ITER will benefit substantially ITER and other advanced fusion energy systems.    View Digest

PPPL Assists in the Development of Artificial Muscle

PPPL collaborator Lenore Rasmussen has the gift of serendipity. Two disparate life experiences sparked the polymer chemist’s interest in the development of electro-responsive “smart materials” — electrically-driven polymers that are strong and durable enough to act as artificial muscles in prosthetic devices and robotics. Her early experience identifying DNA proteins and an injury suffered by her cousin in a farm accident triggered her interest in development of the materials. She brings to this work an extensive background in chemistry, biology, and biochemistry.    View Digest

PPPL Collaboration Yields
Important Fusion Science Advance

In two back-to-back Physical Review Letters, and a full article in Physics of Plasmas, all published in May 2006, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) physicists, along with colleagues from the Netherlands and California, report the first two-dimensional images of local electron temperature fluctuations during the crash time of the so called ‘sawtooth’ instability — one of the most important and familiar plasma phenomenon. The sawtooth instability has never been adequately described, even with the most advanced computer simulations. The experimental work was performed on the TEXTOR device, a tokamak located at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany.    View Digest

PPPL Researchers Develop Anti-terrorism Device

Anti-terrorism efforts are getting a boost from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). A team led by PPPL engineer Charles Gentile has developed a Miniature Integrated Nuclear Detection System, called MINDS, which can be used to scan moving vehicles, luggage, cargo vessels, and the like for specific nuclear signatures associated with materials employed in radiological weapons. MINDS could be employed at workplace entrances, post offices, tollbooths, airports, commercial shipping ports, as well as in police cruisers, to detect the transportation of unauthorized nuclear materials.    View Digest

Small is Big for PPPL's Paul Trap

The Paul Trap Simulator Experiment (PTSX) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory doesn't trap people named Paul or simulate the trapping of Pauls. Its mission is much grander.    View Digest

Hall Thruster Experiment Underway at PPPL

The Hall Thruster is a plasma-based propulsion system for space vehicles. The amount of fuel that must be carried by a satellite depends on the speed with which the thruster can eject it. Chemical rockets have very limited fuel exhaust speed. Plasmas can be ejected at much higher speeds, therefore less fuel need be carried on board. During the past quarter century, the Russians placed in orbit about 100 Hall Thrusters. However, the vast majority of satellites worldwide have relied on chemical thrusters and, to a lesser extent, ion thrusters.    View Digest

MRI Experiment Underway at PPPL

The formation process of stars and planets remains one of the big questions in astrophysical science. Currently, scientists do not understand the required conditions and the accretion, or matter collection process, involved in star and planet formation. But the Magnetorotational Instability (MRI) experiment at PPPL may shed light on this mystery.    View Digest