MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center tour
- Time:
- Sunday, October 11th, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
- Location:
- MIT Building NW17, Room 218, 175 Albany St., Cambridge, MA (walking tour, 5 minute walk, departs from Kresge Lobby, pick up lunch first at Kresge)
Today, we are closer than ever to realizing the dream of harnessing the nuclear process that powers our sun. This stellar process, called fusion, produces minimal waste and offers the hope of an almost limitless supply of safe, dependable energy. For 40 years MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) has been exploring nuclear fusion as a source of energy through a series of tokamaks, devices that use magnets to confine hot plasma in a donut-shaped chamber.
MIT’s Alcator C-Mod tokamak, the subject of this tour, is unique in its dedication to compact size and high performance. It is the world’s highest magnetic field tokamak plasma confinement experiment. As a result, Alcator C-Mod is making world-leading contributions to the development of fusion energy, and is helping to resolve key questions that may lead directly to the enhanced success of the first fusion burning tokamak, ITER, currently under construction through a worldwide collaboration. MIT researchers will also share strategies about how to make fusion faster and cheaper with next generation devices using a revolutionary superconducting technology.
This walking tour will depart from the Kresge Lobby immediately after the 11:00 am - 12:00 pm New Horizons sessions. It's an easy five-minute walk from Kresge to the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at 175 Albany Street. Before you go, grab a box lunch at the Lunch with a Luminary stations in the Kresge Lobby.
