From the Director - Plasma Science and Fusion Center - MIT

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International Collaboration on JET This program conducts collaborative experiments among PSFC (MIT), CRPP (Lausanne, Switzerland) and UK scientists at the Joint European Torus (JET) in England, the world’s largest tokamak and the major experimental tool of the European Fusion Development Agreement. In these experiments researchers study Alfvén wave propagation and instabilities driven by high-energy particles, such as radio frequency-driven energetic ions, injected neutral (ion) beams, and fusion-generated alpha particles. Importantly, waves are launched by specially built antennas, the most recent of which has just been installed in JET. Studies of wave propagation and damping processes have been carried out in the past year. A large database has been obtained in recent experiments and it is presently being analyzed. Further antenna components will be installed next year to improve on the spectral resolution of launched waves. In addition, instabilities driven by high-energy particles, such as neutral beam ions, RF-driven energetic ions and ultimately, alpha particles, are studied. These studies lead to an improved understanding of plasma stability and transport that will be important in future burning plasma experiments where the fusion process generates a substantial alpha particle component. 19
High-Energy-Density Physics Background The High-Energy-Density Physics (HEDP) Division has carried out pioneering and important studies of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) physics. The Division designs and implements experiments, and performs theoretical calculations, to study and explore the non-linear dynamics and properties of plasmas in inertial fusion and those under extreme conditions of density. Richard Petrasso, Head, High-Energy-Density Physics Division. The High-Energy-Density Physics (HEDP) Division (formerly part of the Physics Research Division), led by Dr. Richard Petrasso, has carried out pioneering and important studies of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) physics. The Division designs and implements experiments, and performs theoretical calculations, to study and explore the non-linear dynamics and properties of plasmas in inertial fusion and those under extreme conditions of density (~1000 g/cc, or 50 times the density of gold), pressure (~1000 billion atmospheres, or 5 times the pressure at the center of the sun), and field strength (~1 megagauss, corresponding to 2.5 million times the earth's magnetic field). The Division collaborates extensively with the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), where the 30-kJ, 60-beam OMEGA laser provides the most important current test bed for ICF experiments worldwide. This collaboration works to provide (using novel diagnostic techniques) comprehensive diagnostic information about ICF plasmas by making spectral, spatial, and temporal measurements of fusion products. MIT experiments on the OMEGA laser facility support both programmatic objectives of LLE and MIT’s own scientific goals. They have provided information about fusion yield, plasma temperature and density, implosion symmetry, implosion dynamics, burn symmetry and burn history, electromagnetic fields generated by imploding plasmas, fuel capsule compression, stopping power of hot plasmas, and laser-plasma interactions. The Division also works closely with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the huge National Ignition Facility (NIF) 20
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From the Director - Plasma Science and Fusion Center - MIT

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