A Collaborative National Center for Fusion & Plasma Research

Nuclear energy

Subscribe to RSS - Nuclear energy

Energy that originates from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. This is distinct from a process called fusion where energy is released when atomic nuclei combine or fuse.

Discovered: A new way to measure the stability of next-generation magnetic fusion devices

Scientists seeking to bring to Earth the fusion that powers the sun and stars must control the hot, charged plasma — the state of matter composed of free-floating electrons and atomic nuclei, or ions — that fuels fusion reactions. For scientists who confine the plasma in magnetic fields, a key task calls for mapping the shape of the fields, a process known as measuring the equilibrium, or stability, of the plasma. At the U.S.

PPPL and Oak Ridge manage new DOE program designed to speed development of fusion energy with private-public partnerships

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched an ambitious new program to encourage private-pubic partnerships to speed the development on Earth of the fusion energy that powers the sun and most stars. The DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, home of the US ITER Project Office, will manage the program, with PPPL physicist Ahmed Diallo serving as deputy director and Oak Ridge fusion engineer Dennis Youchison serving as director. 

PPPL and Oak Ridge manage new DOE program designed to speed development of fusion energy with private-public partnerships

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched an ambitious new program to encourage private-pubic partnerships to speed the development on Earth of the fusion energy that powers the sun and most stars. The DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, home of the US ITER Project Office, will manage the program, with PPPL physicist Ahmed Diallo serving as deputy director and Oak Ridge fusion engineer Dennis Youchison serving as director. 

Tracking major sources of energy loss in compact fusion facilities

A key obstacle to controlling on Earth the fusion that powers the sun and stars is leakage of energy and particles from plasma, the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei that fuels fusion reactions. At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), physicists have been focusing on validating computer simulations that forecast energy losses caused by turbulent transport during fusion experiments.

Speeding the development of fusion power to create unlimited energy on Earth

Can tokamak fusion facilities, the most widely used devices for harvesting on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars, be developed more quickly to produce safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy for generating electricity? Physicist Jon Menard of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has examined that question in a detailed look at the concept of a compact tokamak equipped with high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets.

Fiery sighting: A new physics of eruptions that damage fusion experiments

Sudden bursts of heat that can damage the inner walls of tokamak fusion experiments are a hurdle that operators of the facilities must overcome. Such bursts, called “edge localized modes (ELMs),” occur in doughnut-shaped tokamak devices that house the hot, charged plasma that is used to replicate on Earth the power that drives the sun and other stars. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have directly observed a possible and previously unknown process that can trigger damaging ELMs.

Fiery sighting: A new physics of eruptions that damage fusion experiments

Sudden bursts of heat that can damage the inner walls of tokamak fusion experiments are a hurdle that operators of the facilities must overcome. Such bursts, called “edge localized modes (ELMs),” occur in doughnut-shaped tokamak devices that house the hot, charged plasma that is used to replicate on Earth the power that drives the sun and other stars. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have directly observed a possible and previously unknown process that can trigger damaging ELMs.

Pages

U.S. Department of Energy
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University.

Website suggestions and feedback

Pinterest · Instagram · LinkedIn · Tumblr.

PPPL is ISO-14001 certified

Princeton University Institutional Compliance Program

Privacy Policy · Sign In (for staff)

© 2020 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. All rights reserved.

Princeton University
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
P.O. Box 451
Princeton, NJ 08543-0451
GPS: 100 Stellarator Road
Princeton, NJ, 08540
(609) 243-2000