Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Encyclopedia
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
science located on Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey
Plainsboro Township, New Jersey
Plainsboro Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 20,215.Plainsboro was incorporated as a township on May 6, 1919...
. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It grew out of the top secret Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
project to control thermonuclear reactions, called Project Matterhorn. In 1961, after declassification, Project Matterhorn was renamed the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
History
Lyman Spitzer, Jr.Lyman Spitzer
Lyman Strong Spitzer, Jr. was an American theoretical physicist and astronomer best known for his research in star formation, plasma physics, and in 1946, for conceiving the idea of telescopes operating in outer space...
, a professor of Astronomy at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, had for many years been involved in the study of very hot rarefied gases in interstellar space. Inspired by the fascinating but erroneous claims
Huemul Project
The Huemul Project was a secret project proposed by the German scientist of Austrian origin Ronald Richter to the government of Argentina during the first presidency of Juan Domingo Perón....
of controlled fusion achieved in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
by Ronald Richter
Ronald Richter
Ronald Richter was an Austrian, later Argentine, scientist who became famous in connection with the Huemul Project and the National Atomic Energy Commission. This was intended to generate energy from nuclear fusion in the 1950s in Argentina, during the presidency of Juan Perón...
, Spitzer was stimulated enough by the news to give further thought to fusion. In 1950, he conceived of a plasma
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
being confined in a figure-eight-shaped tube by an externally generated magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
, where the ionized hydrogen gas would fuse into helium, releasing energy for the production of power. He called this concept the stellarator
Stellarator
A stellarator is a device used to confine a hot plasma with magnetic fields in order to sustain a controlled nuclear fusion reaction. It is one of the earliest controlled fusion devices, first invented by Lyman Spitzer in 1950 and built the next year at what later became the Princeton Plasma...
, and took this design before the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
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.
In the 1970s research at the PPPL refocused on the Russian tokamak
Tokamak
A tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
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
Harold Furth
Harold P. Furth was an Austrian-American physicist.Furth emigrated to the United States in 1941. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's degree in 1951 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1960...
had the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) online, which operated until 1997. Beginning in 1993, TFTR was the first in the world to use 50/50 mixtures of deuterium
Deuterium
Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen. It has a natural abundance in Earth's oceans of about one atom in of hydrogen . Deuterium accounts for approximately 0.0156% of all naturally occurring hydrogen in Earth's oceans, while the most common isotope ...
-tritium
Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
. In 1994 it yielded an unprecedented 10.7 megawatts of fusion power.
In 1999, the National Spherical Torus Experiment
National Spherical Torus Experiment
The National Spherical Torus Experiment is an innovative magnetic fusion device based on the spherical tokamak concept that was constructed by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Columbia University, and the University of Washington at...
(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
Materials science
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates...
, solar physics
Solar physics
For the physics journal, see Solar Physics Solar physics is the study of our Sun. It is a branch of astrophysics that specializes in exploiting and explaining the detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, and manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
.
Directors
In 1961 Dr. Gottlieb became the first director of the renamed Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.- 1951-1961 Lyman SpitzerLyman SpitzerLyman Strong Spitzer, Jr. was an American theoretical physicist and astronomer best known for his research in star formation, plasma physics, and in 1946, for conceiving the idea of telescopes operating in outer space...
, director of Project Matterhorn - 1961-1980 Melvin B. GottliebMelvin B. GottliebMelvin Burt Gottlieb was a high-energy physicist and director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory...
- 1981-1990 Harold FurthHarold FurthHarold P. Furth was an Austrian-American physicist.Furth emigrated to the United States in 1941. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's degree in 1951 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1960...
- 1991-1996 Ronald C. Davidson
- 1997 John A. Schmidt, interim director, January-July
- 1997-2008 Robert J. Goldston
- 2008 - Stewart C. Prager
Current Major Research Projects and Experiments
- National Spherical Torus ExperimentNational Spherical Torus ExperimentThe National Spherical Torus Experiment is an innovative magnetic fusion device based on the spherical tokamak concept that was constructed by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Columbia University, and the University of Washington at...
(NSTX) - International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
- Tokamak Fusion Test ReactorTokamak Fusion Test ReactorThe Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor was an experimental tokamak built at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory circa 1980. Following on from the PDX and PLT devices, it was hoped that TFTR would finally achieve fusion energy break-even. Unfortunately, the TFTR never achieved this goal...
(TFTR)
Plasma Science and Technology
- Hall Thruster Experiment (HTX)
- 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
External links
- Project Matterhorn Publications and Reports, 1951-1958 Princeton University Library Digital Collections
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Official Website
40.348825°N 74.602183°W