New record for fusion

New record for fusion

MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center October 14, 2016 Alcator C-Mod tokamak nuclear fusion reactor sets world record on final day of operation. The interior of the fusion experiment Alcator C-Mod at MIT recently broke the plasma pressure record for a magnetic fusion device. The interior of the donut-shaped device confines plasma hotter than the … Read more

Illinois utility accelerated AMI rollout plan approved

Illinois utility accelerated AMI rollout plan approved

Metering.com 4 OCTOBER 2016 In the US, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved Ameren Illinois’ revised smart grid AMI deployment plan. In 2012, the Missouri-based power company received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission for its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployment plan, which provided for, among other things, deployment of AMI to 62% of the company’s … Read more

US left with just one working fusion reactor — for now

US left with just one working fusion reactor — for now

nature.com Jeff Tollefson | 30 September 2016 Design flaw may have doomed machine at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. The experimental fusion reactor at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is shaped like a cored apple. A tough year just got tougher for US fusion researchers. The country’s flagship experimental fusion reactor has broken down, less than … Read more

The Energy of the Future: The Status of Nuclear Fusion Research and the Role of the IAEA

The Energy of the Future: The Status of Nuclear Fusion Research and the Role of the IAEA

IAEA by Aabha Dixit | Sept. 15, 2016 Participants at the side event on latest advances in research and development in fusion technology. (Photo: J. C. Castillo/IAEA) Scientists are becoming increasingly excited about the prospects that within the foreseeable future a reactor can replicate the sun’s energy source on Earth through scientific and technological innovation … Read more

Runaway Electrons (And Other Plasma Physics Horror Stories)

Runaway Electrons (And Other Plasma Physics Horror Stories)

Bwog BETSY LADYZHETS | September 24, 2016 Construction of the tokamak (that might kill us all!) In some very specific conditions, electrons (you know, those tiny negatively charged subatomic particles) can run away. But how does this happen? Where do they go? Are they dangerous? We sent Senior Staffer Betsy Ladyzhets to the Plasma Physics … Read more

University of Illinois stellarator nuclear fusion device receives million dollar grant

University of Illinois stellarator nuclear fusion device receives million dollar grant

Next Big Future September 19, 2016 The Department of Energy awarded a $1.05 million grant to the University’s nuclear fusion device, the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications, or HIDRA. This grant, the first one for the machine, will allow researchers at the University’s Center for Plasma Material Interactions to conduct experiments with the … Read more

PPPL internship inspires grad student intern to pursue plasma physics

PPPL internship inspires grad student intern to pursue plasma physics

PPPL By Jeanne Jackson DeVoe | September 9, 2016 Hanna Schamis, a Science Undergraduate Laboratory intern at PPPL, in front of the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) When Hanna Schamis packed her bags for graduate school this summer, she already had two summers of hands-on research under her belt as an intern at the U.S. … Read more

Fusion Has Potential To Meet Global Energy Requirements, Says IAEA’s Amano

Fusion Has Potential To Meet Global Energy Requirements, Says IAEA’s Amano

Nucnet.org 09.09.2016 Fusion energy has the potential to become a virtually inexhaustible, safe and environmentally friendly energy source, capable of meeting global energy requirements, International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Yukiyo Amano said during a visit to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) construction site in southern France. IAEA director-general Yukiyo Amano Mr Amano welcomed the … Read more