Fusion News

DOE 12.19.17 Two protons (green), after “tunneling’’ through their repulsive electrostatic barrier and undergoing weak and strong interactions, fuse together to produce a deuteron (the lightest nucleus) (yellow), a positron, and a neutrino. The Science The fusion of two protons initiates the primary nuclear cycle that powers the Sun. The rate of this low-energy, weak-interaction … Read more

Newswise 2017-12-19 International collaborators advance physics basis for tokamak plasma confinement at low rotation, potentially benefiting a fusion reactor. Credit: Image courtesy of General Atomics/DIII-D National Fusion Facility U.S.- and China-based magnetic fusion scientists in the control room of the DIII-D tokamak in San Diego. Inset: Almost identical electron temperature profiles (shown in top plot … Read more

Eurofusion Q. Are there any other tokamaks in operation around the world? A. There are many tokamaks in operation around the world, all contributing to international efforts to realise commercial fusion power. As well as JET, the other tokamaks in Europe, which are part of the EUROfusion agreement include ASDEX -Upgrade, MAST-Upgrade, TCV, and WEST. … Read more

Physics December 15, 2017 A new model provides a detailed visualization of the clustering of protons and neutrons within the excited nuclear compound formed just after two nuclei collide and fuse. B. Schuetrumpf and W. Nazarewicz, Phys. Rev. C (2017) Merger snapshots. Simulations reveal the clustering of protons and neutrons within the nuclear compound formed … Read more

American Security Project Oct 27, 2017 On June 2017, a study was published by the scientific journal Nature Physics, announcing an advance toward fusion energy development. Researchers at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) partnered with scientists from the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire, U.K. to develop “a new type of … Read more

PPPL December 14, 2017 Image of plasma disruption in experiment on JET, left, and disruption-free experiment on JET, right. Training the FRNN neural network to predict disruptions calls for assigning weights to the data flow along the connections between nodes. Data from new experiments is then put through the network, which predicts “disruption” or “non-disruption.” … Read more

WUWT December 14, 2017 Schematic of proposed laser-driven hydrogen-boron fusion, which generates energy and insignificant levels of radioactivity. Laser 1 produces a 10-kilotesla field, which is sustained for about a nanosecond after being generated, trapping the hydrogen-boron fuel in the cylindrical axis of a magnetic coil. A 30kJ picosecond pulse from Laser 2 induces plasma … Read more

Phys.org December 13, 2017 A laser-driven technique for creating fusion that dispenses with the need for radioactive fuel elements and leaves no toxic radioactive waste is now within reach, say researchers. Dramatic advances in powerful, high-intensity lasers are making it viable for scientists to pursue what was once thought impossible: creating fusion energy based on … Read more

Princeton Dec. 12, 2017 To mark the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which supports basic science at universities, the DOE has compiled 40 research highlights from the past 40 years, including several Nobel Prize-winning results. Nat Fisch, a professor of astrophysical sciences and the director of Princeton University’s Program … Read more

PPPL December 12, 2017 Stewart Prager Stewart Prager, physicist and long-time fusion energy scientist who was director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) from 2009 to 2016, has been honored with a 2017 Distinguished Career Award from Fusion Power Associates (FPA). Prager, a leading contributor to the advancement of … Read more