Fusion News

PPPL September 21, 2017 Physicist Francesca Poli Physicist Francesca Poli of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has been appointed an ITER Scientist Fellow. She will join a network of researchers who have achieved international recognition and will work closely with ITER, an international tokamak under construction in France, to develop … Read more

HEC Wire September 19, 2017 Understanding fusion reactions in detail – particularly plasma turbulence – is critical to the effort to bring fusion power to reality. Recent work including roughly 70 million hours of compute time at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is helping clarify turbulence behavior characteristics. A team of physicists … Read more

Fusion for Energy 25 September 2017 Aerial view of the Toakamak Building with the metallic lid installed, Caracrache, September 2017 © ITER Organization ​ITER has often been described as a “Pharaonic” project due to its ambition and immense size. It will consist of 39 buildings and infrastructures stretching over a land measuring 42 hectares in … Read more

Fusion for Energy 25 September 2017 From left to right: Y. Poitevin, F4E; K. Baker, F4E; H. Jahreiss, F4E; P-Y Chaffard, F4E; J. Schwemmer, F4E; G. Leidenfrost, F4E; L. Delong, ITER China; B. Zhang, MOST; M. Wang, ITER China; Q. Xiaoyong, MOST; C. Chunyu, MOST; and Y. Zhu, ITER China. A joint delegation of key … Read more

Geek Wire BY ALAN BOYLE on September 11, 2017 ARPA-E works on technologies ranging from power grid improvements to nuclear fusion. (ARPA-E via Twitter) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is putting in a plug for the federal government’s energy research agency, ARPA-E, just when it’s in need of a power surge. The Advanced Research Projects Agency … Read more

General Fusion August 28, 2017 Expanded team accelerates transition to integrated prototype program Clean energy leader General Fusion is enhancing the company’s design engineering capabilities and strategic partnerships with new leadership from veteran energy industry experts. The move comes as the company begins to transition its systems-level development activities into the development of a proof-of-concept … Read more

PPPL September 8, 2017 Rich Hawryluk Rich Hawryluk has been appointed interim director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) while an international search for a permanent director moves forward, Princeton University Vice President for PPPL David McComas announced recently. Hawryluk, who has been heading the NSTX-U Recovery Project, is … Read more

PPPL September 11, 2017 PPPL physicist Gerrit Kramer A key issue for next-generation fusion reactors is the possible impact of many unstable Alfvén eigenmodes, wave-like disturbances produced by the fusion reactions that ripple through the plasma in doughnut-shaped fusion facilities called “tokamaks.” Deuterium and tritium fuel react when heated to temperatures near 100 million degrees … Read more

unseenfims.net September 13, 2017 There was a time when it seemed like the only people talking about fusion energy were the LaRouchers. Remember Fusion magazine? Despite their interest, many scientists still believe nuclear fusion (as opposed to conventional nuclear fission) is a realistic goal. A multi-national consortium has sunk billions of dollars and Euros into … Read more

phys.org September 11, 2017 by Isabella Milch A view inside the Wendelstein 7-X plasma vessel with graphite tile cladding. Credit: IPP, Jan Michael Hosan The plasma experiments in the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany, have been resumed after a 15-month conversion break. The extension has … Read more