A Collaborative National Center for Fusion & Plasma Research

ITER

ITER is a large international fusion experiment aimed at demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy.

ITER (Latin for "the way") will play a critical role advancing the worldwide availability of energy from fusion — the power source of the sun and the stars.

To produce practical amounts of fusion power on earth, heavy forms of hydrogen are joined together at high temperature with an accompanying production of heat energy. The fuel must be held at a temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius. At these high temperatures, the electrons are detached from the nuclei of the atoms, in a state of matter called plasma.

COLLOQUIUM: DIII-D Explorations of Fusion Science to Prepare for ITER and FNSF

Recent DIII-D research has provided significant new information for the physics basis of key scientific issues for successful operation of ITER and future steady state fusion tokamaks, including control of edge localized modes (ELMs), plasma instabilities, disruptions, plasma exhaust fluxes and the development of operational scenarios. This talk will summarize progress and outline plans for future research, including opportunities for involvement in the 2014 research program.

Premiere issue of "Quest" magazine details PPPL's strides toward fusion energy and advances in plasma science

Quest Magazine Summer 2013

Welcome to the premiere issue of Quest, the annual magazine of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). We are pleased to provide this news of our strides in advancing research into fusion energy and plasma science—two topics of vital interest to the United States and the world.

From the Netherlands to PPPL: Student reflects on his study of light

Dutch graduate student Jasper van Rens recently completed a three-month assignment at PPPL to study a diagnostic technique that will be crucial to the success of ITER, the huge international fusion facility under construction in France. Working with Fred Levinton and Howard Yuh of PPPL subcontractor Nova Photonics, Van Rens investigated the impact of reflected light on the ITER Motional Stark Effect (MSE) instrument, which measures the internal magnetic configuration of fusion plasmas.

Unique PPPL-led workshop assesses research crucial to the success of ITER

Leading experts from around the world gathered at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in July to focus on a key issue for the development of fusion energy: Improving ways to predict and mitigate disruptions that can destroy magnetically confined plasmas that are needed for fusion reactions.

PPPL's Rich Hawryluk recognized for service to ITER international fusion project

Receives U.S. Secretary of Energy's Appreciation Award

PPPL's Rich Hawryluk recognized for service to ITER international fusion project

Rich Hawryluk served as Deputy Director-General for the ITER Organization and Director of the ITER Administration Department. ITER is an international fusion experiment that is under construction in France. Hawryluk, a former deputy director of PPPL, completed a two-year assignment at ITER in April, 2013.

Fusion through the eyes of a veteran science journalist

Author Daniel Clery recently published “A Piece of the Sun,” a 320-page narrative of the history of fusion research and the personalities who have devoted their careers to it. Clery is a United Kingdom-based reporter for Science magazine who holds a bachelor’s degree in theoretical physics from York University and has covered fusion for more than a decade. While hardly an uncritical flag-waver for fusion, he recognizes its vast potential. He discussed his new book and the future of fusion with PPPL Science Writer John Greenwald.

PPPL honors physicists Steven Sabbagh and Gregory Hammett

PPPL presented its 2013 outstanding research awards to physicists Steven Sabbagh and Gregory Hammett following Director Stewart Prager’s May 28 State-of-the-Laboratory Address. Sabbagh received the Kaul Foundation Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and Technology Development for his work on advancing the understanding, and enhancing the stability, of high-performance plasmas in fusion facilities called tokamaks. Hammett was named winner of the Distinguished Research Fellow Award for his work on deepening the theoretical understanding of turbulence in fusion plasmas.