Speeding the development of fusion power to create unlimited energy on Earth
A look at the pathway to a compact fusion facility equipped with high-temperature superconducting magnets.
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.
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.
Ten PPPL stories you may have missed from 2018 — plus a special bonus
Discoveries and breakthroughs from the past year at the national laboratory for fusion and plasma science research.
Scientists inch closer to fusion energy with discovery of a process that stabilizes plasmas
Scientists seeking to bring the fusion reaction that powers the sun and stars to Earth must keep the superhot plasma free from disruptions. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have discovered a process that can help to control the disruptions thought to be most dangerous.
Scientists inch closer to fusion energy with discovery of a process that stabilizes plasmas
Scientists seeking to bring the fusion reaction that powers the sun and stars to Earth must keep the superhot plasma free from disruptions. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have discovered a process that can help to control the disruptions thought to be most dangerous.
Steve Cowley: The knight who leads the Lab has “the most fun job”
“It’s just all been fun, and this is the most fun job I’ve ever had,” Steve Cowley says of his much-decorated career and his new position, which he assumed July 1, as the seventh director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) — the place where the British-born physicist earned his doctorate and that he calls “the most important fusion laboratory in the world.”
Knighted in October
Steve Cowley: The knight who leads the Lab has “the most fun job”
New director brings his life-long vision to "the most important fusion laboratory in the world."
From the cosmos to fusion plasmas, PPPL presents findings at global APS gathering
More than 135 researchers and students from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) presented their latest findings at the 60th annual meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics — a worldwide gathering focused on fundamental plasma science research and discoveries. Some 1,700 participants from more than two dozen countries joined the November 5-to-9 event in Portland, Oregon, presenting posters and talks on topics ranging from astrophysical plasmas to nanotechnology to magnetic confinement fusion experiments.
From the cosmos to fusion plasmas, PPPL presents findings at global APS gathering
Recent work illuminates laboratory research.
Pages
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.
Princeton University Institutional Compliance Program
Privacy Policy · Sign In (for staff)
© 2019 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. All rights reserved.
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
P.O. Box 451
Princeton, NJ 08543-0451
GPS: 100 Stellarator Road
Princeton, NJ, 08540
(609) 243-2000
