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UrduResearchers are using smaller tokamaks and computer models to test approaches for suppressing runaway electrons. This research used measurements and modeling to demonstrate that perturbations to the magnetic field in a tokamak fusion plasma can suppress high-energy runaway electrons. The results could help improve the operation of ITER and other future fusion devices.
Tag: Fusion
Fusion physicist Roscoe White steps down after a long and fruitful career at PPPL
Article profiles 47-year tenure and ground-breaking contributions of distinguished theoretical physicist.
Intern talks about his upcoming summer of research and fusion energy with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm
An intern about to start a Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) at PPPL and another University of Texas-Dallas student kicked off their summer with a friendly online chat with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about their plans for the summer.
Fooling fusion fuel: How to discipline unruly plasma
PPPL scientists have developed a type of deception to calm unruly plasma and accelerate the harvesting on Earth of fusion energy.
Found: A fast and accurate way to optimize fusion energy devices
PPPL develops a model once thought to be impossible for delivering radio waves to heat tokamak plasmas.
Insightful looks at the nature and role of science by two former PPPL insiders
A profile of scientific essays and a new forward to Vannevar Bush’s 1945 landmark “Science The Endless Frontier,” together with interviews with the authors.
New high-performance computing cluster will greatly enhance PPPL and Princeton University research
Stellar supercomputer marks huge leap forward in the capacity of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory to address fusion development issues.
Envisioning the Future of Fusion Energy and Plasma Research
Based on input from the fusion and plasma research community, the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee has put forth a new vision and goal. Based on decades of advances in fusion research, they propose working to launch an economically-viable pilot fusion power plant by the 2040s.
Advisory Committee Releases Strategic Plan for U.S. Fusion, Plasma Program
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) has adopted and endorsed a new report that lays out a strategic plan for fusion energy and plasma science research over the next decade. The report has been…
General Atomics Completes Fabrication and Testing of First ITER Central Solenoid Module
After nearly five years of fabrication and a battery of rigorous testing and troubleshooting, General Atomics (GA) has completed the first major milestone in one of the United States’ largest contributions to the ITER fusion project in France. The first module of the ITER Central Solenoid will join six others still in fabrication to make up the largest pulsed superconducting magnet in the world. The Central Solenoid will play a critical role in ITER’s mission to establish fusion as a practical, safe and nearly inexhaustible source of clean, abundant and carbon-free electricity.
DIII-D Scientists to Work with PPPL to Find a Path to Sustained Fusion Energy
Researchers from the DIII-D National Fusion Facility are preparing to support their colleagues at the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) at the U.S Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in a quest to develop sustained fusion energy. Under recently announced DOE funding programs, two teams at DIII-D will perform research on physics and instrumentation for NSTX-U as the facility’s staff work to restart operations late next year.
Graduate students gather virtually for summer school at PPPL
Students attending the third annual graduate summer school at PPPL gathered virtually, due to travel restrictions, to get a broad overview of the field of plasma physics.
Scientists develop forecasting technique that could help advance quest for fusion energy
An international group of researchers has developed a technique that forecasts how tokamaks might respond to unwanted magnetic errors. These forecasts could help engineers design fusion facilities that create a virtually inexhaustible supply of safe and clean fusion energy to generate electricity.
DOE provides $21 million to advance diagnostics on the flagship fusion facility at PPPL
New funding will upgrade key diagnostics on the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment-Upgrade, the flagship facility at PPPL.
Tungsten isotope helps study how to armor future fusion reactors
A team of ORNL researchers working with tungsten to armor the inside of future fusion reactors had some surprising results when looking at the probability of contamination.
First results of an upgraded experiment highlight the value of lithium for the creation of fusion energy
Initial results of the Lithium Tokamak Experiment-Beta (LTX-β) at PPPL show that the enhancements significantly improve performance of the plasma that will fuel future fusion reactors.
Scientists Solve Key Challenge for Controlling “Runaway” Electrons in Fusion Plasmas
Scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have for the first time studied the internal structure and stability of high-energy runaway electron (RE) beams in a tokamak. The finding could provide a way to control the damaging potential of RE beams and could contribute to future power production using tokamak fusion power plants.
Mathematical noodling leads to new insights into an old fusion problem
Scientists at PPPL have gained new insight into a common type of plasma hiccup that interferes with fusion reactions. These findings could help bring fusion energy closer to reality.
Story Tips: Shuffling atoms, thinning forests, fusion assembly and nuclear medicine
ORNL Story Tips: Shuffling atoms, thinning forests, fusion assembly and nuclear medicine
Scientists explore the power of radio waves to help control fusion reactions
New research points to improved control of troublesome magnetic islands in future fusion facilities.
A new explanation for sudden collapses of heat in plasmas can help create fusion energy on Earth
PPPL researchers find that jumbled magnetic fields in the core of fusion plasmas can cause the entire plasma discharge to suddenly collapse.
ORNL team builds portable diagnostic for fusion experiments from off-the-shelf items
The techniques Theodore Biewer and his colleagues are using to measure whether plasma has the right conditions to create fusion have been around awhile.
Design of the W7-X fusion device enables it to overcome obstacles, scientists find
Advanced design of the world’s largest and most powerful stellarator demonstrates the ability to moderate heat loss from the plasma that fuels fusion reactions.
Climbing the Staircase to Fusion
Recent experiments in the DIII-D tokamak demonstrate that more turbulence at the edge of the plasma can result in it being hotter.
DIII-D Researchers Use Machine Learning to Steer Fusion Plasmas Near Operational Limits
Researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility recently achieved a scientific first when they used machine learning calculations to automatically prevent fusion plasma disruptions in real time, while simultaneously optimizing the plasma for peak performance. The new experiments are the first of what they expect to be a wave of research in which machine learning–augmented controls could broaden the understanding of fusion plasmas. The work may help deliver reliable, peak-performance operation of future fusion reactors.
Unraveling how Tungsten Armor Erodes in Tokamak Walls
Scientists developed a new model to describe how large, periodic bursts of plasma known as edge localized modes (ELMs) erode parts of tokamak walls. Tokamaks are devices used to study the process of fusion.
Accelerating the Development of Nuclear Fusion
Researchers from TAE Technologies used the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility to support their fusion research. The company is working to develop the world’s first fusion device that can generate electricity and is commercially viable.
Batten down the hatches: Preventing heat leaks to help create a star on Earth
PPPL physicists have identified a method by which instabilities can be tamed and heat can be prevented from leaking from fusion plasma, giving scientists a better grasp on how to optimize conditions for fusion in devices known as tokamaks.
Blowing bubbles: PPPL scientist confirms novel way to launch and drive current in fusion plasmas
PPPL physicist Fatima Ebrahimi has used high-resolution computer simulations to confirm the practicality of the CHI start-up technique. The simulations show that CHI could produce electric current continuously in larger, more powerful tokamaks than exist today to produce stable fusion plasmas.
3D-Printed Plastics With High Performance Electrical Circuits
Rutgers engineers have embedded high performance electrical circuits inside 3D-printed plastics, which could lead to smaller and versatile drones and better-performing small satellites, biomedical implants and smart structures. They used pulses of high-energy light to fuse tiny silver wires, resulting in circuits that conduct 10 times more electricity than the state of the art, according to a study in the journal Additive Manufacturing. By increasing conductivity 10-fold, the engineers can reduce energy use, extend the life of devices and increase their performance.
International honors for PPPL post-doctoral fellows helping to bring a star to earth
Profile of PPPL’s Chris Smiet and Rupak Mukherjee and the post-doctoral honors they have won.
Staircase to the stars: Turbulence in fusion plasmas may not be all bad
Surprise discovery shows that turbulence at the edge of the plasma may facilitate production of fusion energy.
Public-private INFUSE projects to speed fusion development housed at PPPL
A look at four INFUSE projects to speed the development of fusion energy that PPPL is working on.
Investigating Materials that Can Go the Distance in Fusion Reactors
Future fusion reactors will require materials that can withstand extreme operating conditions, including being bombarded by high-energy neutrons at high temperatures. Scientists recently irradiated titanium diboride (TiB2) in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) to better understand the effects of fusion neutrons on performance.
Department of Energy Announces Private-Public Awards to Advance Fusion Energy Technology
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced funding for 12 projects with private industry to enable collaboration with DOE national laboratories on overcoming challenges in fusion energy development.
The awards are the first provided through the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy program (INFUSE).
Light my fire: How to startup fusion devices every time
Researchers have constructed a framework for starting and raising a fusion plasma to temperatures rivaling the sun in hundreds of milliseconds.
Story tips from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, October 2019
ORNL story tips: Reaching the boiling point for HVACs; showcasing innovation for technology transfer; using neutrons to lend insight into human tissue; and heating the core in a fusion prototype experiment.
Vlad Soukhanovskii
Vsevolod A. Soukhanovskii is a group leader at the Fusion Energy Sciences Program at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He and his research group are stationed on a long-term assignment focusing on edge plasma transport and plasma-surface interactions in spherical tokamaks at the Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
A Trojan Horse for Fusion Disruptions
Thin-walled diamond shells carry payloads of boron dust; the dust mitigates destructive plasma disruptions in fusion confinement systems. The Science To put the energy-producing power of a star to work, researchers create and contain plasma—the ultra-hot gas that makes up…