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Fusion and Plasmas

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Developing materials for stellar performance in fusion power plants
When Zoe Fisher was in fourth grade her art teacher asked her to draw her vision of a dream job on paper. At the time, those goals changed like the flavor of the week in an ice cream shop—”zookeeper” featured prominently for...
MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems unveils plans for the world’s first fusion power plant
The company has announced that it will build the first grid-scale fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The concept for a fusion power plant evolvved out of a design class taught by NSE’s Prof Dennis Whyte in 2012. Whyte challenged the graduate students to design a fusion device that would use a new kind of superconducting magnet to confine the plasma used in the reaction.
Transforming fusion from a scientific curiosity into a powerful clean energy source
SPOTLIGHT: Driven to solve hard problems, Associate Professor Zachary Hartwig is advancing a new approach to commercial fusion energy.
Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics
Prof Ju Li along with a research team at MIT has developed a new kind of nanoscale transistor using ultrathin semiconductor materials which operate more efficiently than silicon-based devices
Smart handling of neutrons is crucial to fusion power success
In the fall of 2009, when Ethan Peterson arrived at MIT as an undergraduate, he already had some ideas about possible career options. He’d always liked building things, even as a child, so he imagined his future work would involve engineering of...
Study: Fusion energy could play a major role in the global response to climate change
Experts in energy systems modeling and fusion technology explore the future role of fusion at various costs and carbon constraints.
Aligning economic and regulatory frameworks for today’s nuclear reactor technology
Liam Hines might have moved to Sarasota, Florida only as a highschooler but he’s a Floridian through and through. He jokes that he’s even got a floral shirt, what he calls a “Florida Formal,” for every occasion. Which is why it broke...
More durable metals for fusion power reactors
In the race to achieve carbon-free commercial fusion energy, one stumbling block has been that key structural metals inside proposed fusion reactors can fail in just a few months. MIT engineers have demonstrated that adding nanoparticles of certain ceramics to the metals can protect them from damage and significantly extend their lifetime. Above: Professor Ju Li (right) and postdoc So Yeon Kim examine samples of the composite they have fabricated for their demonstrations. Credit: Gretchen Ertl
Thomas Varnish: Studying astrophysically relevant plasma physics
Thomas Varnish loves his hobbies – knitting, baking, pottery, it’s a long list. His latest interest is analog film photography. A picture with his mother and another with his boyfriend are just a few of Varnish’s favorites. “These moments of human connection...
Nuno Loureiro named director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center
A lauded professor, theoretical physicist, and fusion scientist, Loureiro is keenly positioned to advance the center’s research and education goals.Loureiro succeeds Dennis Whyte, who stepped down at the end of 2023.