Fusion energy

A subcommittee convened by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) to develop a long-range plan for FES has released its final report that lays out a strategic plan for fusion energy and plasma science research over the next decade. The report has been two years in the making, gathering an unprecedented level of input and support from across the diverse U.S. fusion energy and plasma sciences community. Its strategic plan charts a path for the U.S. as it seeks to develop fusion as a limitless and practical source of energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has been awarded the lead role in a grant worth $3 million in DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funding for the design and construction of permanent magnets far more powerful than those on refrigerator doors to facilitate the development of fusion energy. Such magnets could provide a highly innovative basis for simplifying stellarators, complex facilities for experiments in producing fusion energy.

Scientific discoveries, educational opportunities and wide-ranging events highlighted the 62^nd American Physical Society-Division of Plasma Physics annual meeting, which attracted participants from around the world. The session this year, held virtually November 9 to  13, drew more than 150 physicists, engineers and students from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

Unlocking the zig-zagging dance of hot, charged plasma particles that fuel fusion reactions can help to harness on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars. At the U.S.