National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX‑U)

Not Your Typical Tokamak

 

The National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) is the largest spherical tokamak in the U.S. and designed to be the most powerful in the world. Its compact design makes it an ideal candidate to serve as the model for a fusion pilot plant followed by a commercial fusion reactor.

top-view of experimental machine
plasma inside of fusion device

“The National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX‑U) will help to determine whether the spherical tokamak design can scale to commercial reactor level.

 

Steve Cowley, Laboratory Director

Key Features

Feel the Power

New and strong central magnets produce the highest magnetic field strength of any large spherical torus, allowing for near steady-state conditions.

Feel the Heat

Flexible heating systems create and heat the plasma to 100 million degrees using beams of high-energy neutral particles and high-power radio waves.

Feel the Impact

Each “shot” on NSTX-U provides a tremendous amount of information, and our state-of-the-art diagnostics can accurately measure the properties of plasma.

Feel the Future

The system is built to eventually investigate the use of liquid lithium in protecting the device’s walls from extreme heat.

NSTX-U Leadership

Recovery Project

A failed coil led to a full-scale investigation of the NSTX-U's hundreds of intricate parts. NSTX-U Recovery Project engineers have replaced many of the essential components of the device to make it more powerful, efficient and precise. Each component is designed, analyzed and built to exact specifications under the guidance of PPPL engineers and technicians and tested before being installed in the device. Today, the NSTX-U Recovery Project is 88% complete.  

top-view of experimental machine