NSTX-U is the largest spherical tokamak in the U.S. and designed to be the most powerful of its kind in the world. Its sophisticated features enable scientists to test the viability of this compact design to reliably generate cost-effective electricity from fusion energy.

FLARE is a one-of-a-kind device designed to probe the physics behind magnetic reconnection, one of the most fundamental yet still not fully understood phenomena in the universe. Its expanded suite of diagnostics, capacitors, drive and test magnets and dedicated control room offer research capabilities found nowhere else in the world.

PPPL is a partner laboratory in US ITER, which is managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with PPPL and Savannah River National Laboratory. With contributions from universities and industry, US ITER is delivering hardware design and manufacturing for 12 essential ITER systems. The completed diagnostics will probe the plasma, an electrically charged soup of electrons and atomic nuclei, revealing important information that could improve the efficiency of ITER and other doughnut-shaped fusion devices known as tokamaks.

LTX-β is the world’s first plasma confinement experiment with full liquid-metal plasma-facing components. Designed to test how the liquid lithium improves fusion performance, the upgraded device includes a neutral beam injector, stronger magnetic fields and a new lithium system, bringing conditions closer to those that will occur in a fusion reactor.