Princeton Plasma Physics: Tokamak Reactor

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Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

Scale model of a Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor. The Tokamak Reactor operated at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) from 1982 to 1997.

Magnetic fusion research at Princeton began in 1951 under the direction of Professor Lyman Spitzer, Jr. For the past three decades, PPPL has been a leader in magnetic confinement experiments using the tokamak approach. The Tokamak Reactor set a number of world records, including a plasma temperature of 510 million degrees centigrade — the highest ever produced in a laboratory, and well beyond the 100 million degrees required for commercial fusion — and made substantial contributions in fusion technology development.

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Photo from the Princeton Alumni Weekly, courtesy of Princeton University Archives.