DIII-D National Fusion Facility

We’re excited to welcome North Carolina State University to DIII-D! The faculty and students at NC State College of Engineering will be working in several key research areas in the DIII-D program. Two major projects are developing new ion sources to improve heating of DIII-D plasmas by the neutral beams and utilizing cutting-edge manufacturing processes, such as additive manufacturing and cold spray technologies, to produce materials for the interior wall of future fusion reactors. #fusionenergy #additivemanufacturing #materialtesting #plasmaheating #innovation #technologyinnovation #studentresearch

A major focus of the DIII-D research program is the development and testing of reactor wall materials for future fusion power plants, with tungsten as the leading baseline material due to its high melting point, low erosion rate, and radiation resistance. A recent experiment on candidate materials that involved several international collaborations and a student project was headed by session leader Florian Effenberg from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), with key contributions by Žana Popović from ORAU, Jonathan Coburn from Sandia National Laboratories, and Chase Hargrove from Penn State University. The study used the DIII-D Divertor Material Exposure Station (DiMES) to expose an array of advanced tungsten-based composites and alloys to the extreme plasma environment inside DIII-D and then recover the materials for analysis. This work will provide performance data to help improve the best candidate materials and advance them toward a technology readiness level for commercial use in fusion reactors. #fusionenergy #FPP #materialscience #DIMES #testplatform #materialtesting #plasmascience #tungsten #advancedmaterials #studentresearch #TRL #commercialization

This week, we say goodbye to our U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SULI/CCI interns and celebrate their successful projects this summer. The students participated in many of the key research areas at DIII-D, including diagnostics, machine learning, and material testing. The students' work gave them an opportunity to learn about careers in fusion through hands-on projects that provide valuable contributions to our program. We wish our interns the best as they return to school in the fall and hope to see them in the fusion workforce someday! #fusionenergy #STEMeducation #scientificresearch #workforcedevelopment #studenttraining #collegeinternship #internship

Over the weekend, DIII-D team members participated in the Southeast San Diego Science & Art Expo. They shared their passion for science with visitors and sparked excitement about physics with hands-on plasma, magnet, and cryogenics demonstrations. #STEMoutreach #scienceisfun #scienceforkids #sciencedemo #handsonscience #coldestvolcano #cryogenics #liquidnitrogen #fusionenergy #plasmaphysics #magnets

A DIII-D team led by scientists from General Atomics was the first group to achieve high confinement quality and fuel density at the same time in a tokamak! Learn more about this exciting breakthrough needed for many fusion power plant designs here: https://bit.ly/3WMeypB #fusionenergy #plasmaphysics #scientificdiscovery #scientificprogress #fusionpowerplant #FPP #cleanenergy

Women on the DIII-D team recently hosted a spectroscopy workshop, tour, and career panel for over 70 girls as part of AAUW Virtual Tech Trek. This week-long summer camp introduces current and rising 8th-grade girls with a passion for science to many fields in STEM, including plasma physics! We enjoy our annual participation and love getting to talk about all things physics and fusion with the campers. AAUW California #fusionenergy #plasmaphyiscs #STEMoutreach #girlsinSTEM #careersinSTEM #womeninSTEM

This week, Tyler Abrams, co-lead of the DIII-D Plasma Interacting Technology group, gave a presentation on how DIII-D is supporting the fusion industry at the 26th Technology of Fusion Energy meeting. Highlights included an explanation of DIII-D capabilities and flexibility to support evaluation of industry approaches and materials, as well as a description of available resources for machine learning/artificial intelligence development and diagnostic & actuator testing. He also explained the non-proprietary user agreement process, which allows new organizations to join the program as active participants in as little as a single day! This on-going work in the DIII-D program provides key access and resources to accelerate fusion commercialization. American Nuclear Society #fusionenegy #technologytestbed #industrypartnership #publicprivatepartnership #d3dnationalfusionfacility #TOFE

This week, DIII-D welcomed CA State Senator Catherine Blakespear, whose district includes Torrey Pines. Senator Blakespear has a committed interest in clean energy, and during her visit, we discussed the importance of DIII-D to San Diego and how DIII-D is accelerating the path to fusion energy on the grid, as well as how the state government can contribute to establishing fusion here in CA. #fusionenergy #cleanenergy

DIII-D is excited to be hosting three The National GEM Consortium fellows this summer, who recently presented their progress to the GEM leadership. These exceptional graduate students are completing projects focused in different areas within the DIII-D program, ranging from materials research to heating system improvements. This hands-on experience in developing solutions for critical needs supports the development of skills needed to enter the STEM workforce while contributing important progress to the DIII-D program. #fusionenergy #workforcedevelopment #summerresearch #researchproject #gradstudents #graduatestudentresearch #internship #scienceinternship

DIII-D hosted 120 current and rising eighth grade girls for a tour as part of AAUW California Tech Trek, a summer camp designed to nurture a passion for STEM and introduce students to exciting career opportunities in the sciences. The girls saw many of the key spaces in the facility, such as the tokamak device and control room, and learned about the roles in operations and research needed to make the facility a success. AAUW AAUW California Tech Trek #STEMoutreach #girlsinSTEM #STEMoutreach #careersinSTEM #fusionenergy #userfacility #facilitytour