Feature describes new collaborative facility hosted by PPPL and Princeton University to advance understanding and control of low-temperature plasma
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will provide $50 million to U.S. universities, private industry and national laboratories for a range of research projects in fusion energy and plasma science.
Stellarators, twisty machines that house fusion reactions, rely on complex magnetic coils that are challenging to design and build. Now, a PPPL physicist has developed a mathematical technique to help simplify the design of the coils.
In the decade since Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility began operations, NIF has routinely heated and compressed matter to some of the most extreme temperatures and pressures ever obtained on Earth – temperatures of 100 million degrees and pressures 100 billion times that of the Earth’s atmosphere. More than 2,700 experiments have helped to ensure the current and future nuclear stockpile is safe, secure and effective; made significant progress toward fusion ignition; and yielded new insights about the stars and the universe while revealing phenomena like the metallization of hydrogen and the interiors of distant planets.
The exhaustive detection method that discovered the error field in the initial run of the NSTX-U tokamak could serve as a model for error-field detection in future tokamaks.
ORNL story tips: Training next-generation sensors to “see,” interpret live data; 3D printing tungsten could protect fusion reactor components; detailed study estimated how much more, or less, energy U.S. residents might consume by 2050 based on seasonal weather shifts; astrophysicists used ORNL supercomputer to create highest-ever-resolution galactic wind simulations; new solar-thermal desalination method improves energy efficiency.
A new study by University of Wisconsin–Madison physicists mimicked solar winds in the lab, confirming how they develop and providing an Earth-bound model for the future study of solar physics.
News release reports development of a cubic satellite, or CubeSat, as testbed for a microthruster with unique capabilities.
Subatomic particles zip around fusion machines known as tokamaks and sometimes merge, releasing large amounts of energy. Now, physicists have confirmed that an updated computer code could help to predict and ultimately prevent the particles from leaking from the magnetic fields confining them.
A team of researchers led by Bill Tang of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University recently tested its Fusion Recurrent Neural Network (FRNN) code, a novel artificial intelligence (AI) resource designed to predict plasma instabilities, on various high-performance computing (HPC) systems. A reliable way to predict and mitigate disruptions could accelerate the adoption of fusion as an environmentally friendly, virtually unlimited source of energy.
PPPL physicist Rajesh Maingi co-leads national program to develop strategy for use of flowing liquid lithium in fusion devices.
PPPL's Undergraduate Workshop in Plasma Physics is aimed at creating a more diverse pipeline into the plasma physics and fusion energy fields by offering students workshops in plasma physics, coding, and vector calculus as well as hands-on experiments in electromagnetism and plasma physics.
Feature reports discovery of an alternative method for measuring the stability of fusion plasma, a critical task for researchers seeking to bring the fusion that powers the sun to Earth.
The males of one species of butterfly are more attracted to females that are active, not necessarily what they look like, according to a recent research conducted at Augustana University.The paper, “Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes,” found that males of the species noticed the activity levels of potential female mates, not their markings.
Physicists from PPPL and General Atomics have concluded that injecting tiny beryllium pellets into ITER could help stabilize the plasma that fuels fusion reactions.
PPPL physicist brings astrophysical processes down to Earth
“Super H Mode” experiments demonstrate record fusion performance
Mirrored D shape demonstrates surprisingly high pressures in a tokamak, indicating a shape change may be in order for next-generation fusion reactors.
Thin-walled diamond shells carry payloads of boron dust; the dust mitigates destructive plasma disruptions in fusion confinement systems.
Feature describes PPPL role in innovative DOE program to promote public-private partnerships to speed development of fusion energy.
Analysis of energy loss in low-aspect ratio tokamaks opens a new chapter in the development of predictions of transport in such facilities.
SLAC’s ‘electron camera’ films rapidly melting tungsten and reveals atomic-level material behavior that could impact the design of future reactors.
Feature introduces video of interview with physicist William Tang describing the role of artificial of intelligence in fusion research. Feature includes a link to the video
Release describes application of machine learning form of artificial intelligence to predict the behavior of fusion plasma.
Scientists have created a novel method for measuring the stability of plasma in fusion facilities called “tokamaks.” Involving an innovative use of a mathematical tool, the method might lead to a technique for stabilizing plasma and making fusion reactions more efficient.
First measurements of heat flux in plasmas experientially sheds light on models relying on classical thermal transport.
The Fusion Recurrent Neural Network reliably forecasts disruptive and destructive events in tokamaks.
Feature describes Nature paper on opening a new chapter in fusion research with artificial intelligence.
PPPL physicists have discovered valuable information about how plasma flows at the edge inside doughnut-shaped fusion devices. The findings mark an encouraging sign for the development of machines to produce fusion energy for generating electricity without creating long-term hazardous waste.
Article describes analytical confirmation that transient CHI, a novel device for starting up fusion plasmas, can achieve startup in future compact fusion facilities.
Jon Menard, the head of research on the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade, has been named deputy director for research. Michael Zarnstorff, who held the position for 10 years, will become the chief chief scientist at PPPL, a position that will oversee strategic scientific planning.
Inspired by the Space Needle as a child, David Hill used his education in physics to pursue fusion research. Now, he’s the director of DIII-D at General Atomics, the largest magnetic fusion experiment in the U.S.
A detailed examination of the challenges and tradeoffs in the development of a compact fusion facility with high-temperature super-conducting magnets.
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory physicist Sam Cohen will receive $700,000 in the form of a subcontract from a $1.25 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to upgrade and operate his Princeton Field Reversed Configuration device, the PFRC-2. The data produced could allow the design of future devices that might one day be used as a portable generator.
The DOE has extended until 2022 its contract with Princeton University to manage the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, which is dedicated to enabling the scientific breakthroughs required to develop fusion as a safe, clean and abundant energy source.
Findings from an international team of scientists show that twisted magnetic fields can evolve in only so many ways, with the plasma inside them following a general rule.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a plan to provide $30 million for experimental research on magnetic fusion energy science at international fusion facilities known as tokamaks.
Scientists tame damaging edge instabilities in steady-state conditions required in a fusion reactor.
Combining a first laser pulse to heat up and “drill” through a plasma, and another to accelerate electrons to incredibly high energies in just tens of centimeters, scientists have nearly doubled the previous record for laser-driven particle acceleration at Berkeley Lab’s BELLA Center.
A novel experimental geometry at the Linac Coherent Light Source reveals, for the first time, how silicon responds to shocks similar to those in a planet’s core.
Spectroscopic measurements reveal that main ions flow much faster than impurities at the edge of fusion-relevant plasmas.
Surprisingly, a magnetic island does not necessarily perturb the plasma current in a dangerous way and destroy fusion performance.
ORNL neutrons investigate novel carbon capture crystals; gleaning valuable Twitter data to quickly map power outages; lightweight, heat-shielding graphite foam test yields positive results in fusion reactors; open source software scales up analysis of motor designs to run on supercomputers
Feature describes use of Magnetorotational Instability Experiment at PPPL to confirm an important mechanism involved in star formation.
Scientists at TRIUMF, the Institut de Physique Nucléaire, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have for the first time accurately predicted the properties of polarized deuterium-tritium thermonuclear fusion. Their findings, described in a Nature Communications publication released today, add to our current understanding of the dynamics of nuclear fusion and may enable more accurate predictions of other thermonuclear reactions critical to nuclear science applications.
Feature describes prototype of new device that mitigates disruption of fusion plasmas faster than the most developed techniques today.
EarthCam names remote-control experiment at PPPL one of 25 most interesting Webcams of 2018.
To develop a future fusion reactor, scientists need to understand how and why plasma in fusion experiments moves into a “high-confinement mode” where particles and heat can’t escape. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory simulated the transition into that mode starting from the most basic physics principles.
Feature describes first direct sighting of a trigger for bursts of heat that can disrupt fusion reactions.
Like surfers catching ocean waves, particles within plasma can ride waves oscillating through the plasma during fusion energy experiments. Now a team of physicists led by PPPL has devised a faster method to determine how much this interaction contributes to efficiency loss in tokamaks.
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