From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a
United States Department
of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion
science located on Princeton University's Forrestal
Campus in Plainsboro Township, New
Jersey. Its primary mission is research into and development of
fusion as an energy source. It grew out of the top secret Cold War project to control
thermonuclear reactions, called Project Matterhorn. In 1961, after
declassification, Project Matterhorn was renamed the Princeton
Plasma Physics Laboratory.[1]
History
Lyman Spitzer,
Jr., a professor of Astronomy at Princeton
University, had for many years been involved in the study of
very hot rarefied gases in interstellar space. Inspired by the
fascinating but erroneous claims of controlled fusion
achieved in Argentina by
Ronald
Richter, Spitzer was stimulated enough by the news to give
further thought to fusion.[2] In
1950, he conceived of a plasma being confined in a
figure-eight-shaped tube by an externally generated magnetic field,
where the ionized hydrogen gas would fuse into helium, releasing
energy for the production of power. He called this concept the stellarator, and took
this design before the Atomic Energy
Commission in Washington. As a result of this meeting and a
review of the invention by designated scientists throughout the
nation, the stellarator proposal was funded in 1951 as Project
Matterhorn. In 1958, this magnetic fusion research was declassified
following the 1955 United Nations
International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy.
This generated an influx of graduate students eager to learn the
"new" physics, which in turn influenced the lab to concentrate more
on basic research.[3]
In the 1970s research at the PPPL refocused on the Russian tokamak design when it became
evident that it was a more satisfactory containment design than the
stellarator. By 1982, the PPL under the direction of Harold Furth had the
Tokamak Fusion
Test Reactor (TFTR) online, which operated until
1997.[4]
Beginning in 1993, TFTR was the first in the world to use 50/50
mixtures of deuterium-tritium. In 1994 it yielded an
unprecedented 10.7 megawatts of fusion power.[4]
In 1999, the National Spherical
Torus Experiment (NSTX), based on the spherical tokamak
concept, came online at the PPPL. Laboratory scientists are
collaborating with researchers on fusion science and technology at
other facilities, both domestic and foreign. Staff are applying
knowledge gained in fusion research to a number of theoretical and
experimental areas including materials science, solar physics, chemistry, and manufacturing.
Directors
In 1961 Dr. Gottlieb became the first director of the renamed
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.[5] [6]
Current Major
Research Projects and Experiments
Plasma Science and
Technology
- Hall Thruster Experiment (HTX)[9]
- Lithium Tokamak Experiment (LTX)
- Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX)
- Beam Dynamics and Nonneutral Plasma
Theoretical Plasma
Physics
- DOE Scientific Simulation Initiative
- U.S. MHD Working Group
- Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) Theory Consortium
- Tokamak Physics Design and Analysis Codes
- TRANSP Code
- National Transport Code Collaboration (NTCC) Modules
Library
References
- ^
Tanner, Earl C. (1977) Project Mattherhorn: an informal
history Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory,
Princeton, New Jersey, p. 77, OCLC 33015333
- ^
Burke, James (1999)The Knowledge Web: From Electronic Agents to
Stonehenge and Back -- And Other Journeys Through Knowledge
Simon & Shuster, New York, pp. 241-2, ISBN 0-684-85934-3
- ^
Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1982) Fusion: Science, Politics, and the
Invention of a New Energy Source MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, p. 97, ISBN
0-262-02180-3
- ^ a
b
c
d
Staff (1996) "Fusion Lab Planning Big Reactor's Last Run" "The
Record" New Jersey, 22 December 1996, p. N-07
- ^
Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1982) Fusion: Science, Politics, and the
Invention of a New Energy Source MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, p. 130, ISBN
0-262-02180-3
- ^
"Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory: History",
Princeton University
- ^
Stern, Robert (2007) "Princeton fusion center to lose influential
leader" The Star-Ledger Newark, New Jersey, 15 December
2007, p. 20
- ^
"Press Release, Prager to lead
DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory". http://media-newswire.com/release_1068963.html. Retrieved
2008-08-09.
- ^
"Hall Thruster Experiment (HTX)", Princeton
Plasma Physics Laboratory, accessed 12 May 2009
External
links
40°20′56″N 74°36′08″W / 40.348825°N
74.602183°W / 40.348825;
-74.602183Coordinates: 40°20′56″N 74°36′08″W / 40.348825°N
74.602183°W / 40.348825;
-74.602183
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