SCI-FI-TEK 70 YRS IN THE MAKING

Expanding America’s role in fusion systems in France and Japan

PPPL’s Luis Delgado-Aparicio will lead a project to provide essential measurement equipment for two doughnut-shaped fusion devices: WEST and JT‑60SA

Princeton University

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From left: James Barton, Luis Delgado-Aparicio, Kajal Shah, Masayuki Ono, Sunny Nyhus and Jasmine Thomas pose with the shipping crates containing PPPL's X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer before the system is flown to Japan. 

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Credit: Michael Livingston / PPPL Communications Department

Harnessing fusion energy requires seeing deep inside the plasma that fuels the reaction to understand its behavior. But it’s challenging to catch a glimpse. Custom technology is needed to measure particles hotter than the sun, many times per second.

A new international project will add powerful new X‑ray imaging systems to fusion experiments in France and Japan, along with a multi‑energy camera system in France, to make those measurements and help guide the design of future fusion systems. 

The effort is led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), a global leader in fusion research, working with partners at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and host laboratories overseas. R-V Industries, a private company based in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, built and tested many of the system’s parts, including the vacuum chambers, stands, mounts and bellows.

“This investment marks a critical step toward advancing our U.S. Fusion Science & Technology Roadmap and the Genesis Mission,” said Jean Paul Allain, Director of the Office of Fusion at DOE. “The high-quality data generated will be invaluable for model validation and verification, while also advancing our efforts to converge artificial intelligence and fusion data, supporting the DOE’s Genesis Mission through the AI-Fusion Digital Convergence Platform.”

DOE has provided $12.5 million in funding for the project, with PPPL staff stationed abroad for several years. International partners often turn to PPPL for the Lab’s unparalleled theory, computation and diagnostic techniques, adding rich value to the overall fusion landscape. As PPPL marks its 75th anniversary this year, the project highlights how the Lab’s legacy of discovery continues to shape the future of fusion energy around the world. 

“This is a strong example of scaling up the capability of the Lab and the U.S. program through international partnership on a major international facility," said Matthew Lanctot, acting research division director for the DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences.

Seeing the whole plasma

At the tungsten (W) Environment in Steady-state Tokamak (WEST), PPPL and MIT are adding two new X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (XICS) systems to look through the top and bottom of the plasma, adding to an existing French system that looks through the center. Because these new views avoid the central axis of the doughnut-shaped plasma, scientists call them ‘off-axis’ — and they’re essential for seeing the full picture. The additional systems will let researchers look at the plasma from more angles and with greater precision. Such a view is critical for understanding how plasma behaves and, ultimately, how to produce a sustained fusion reaction.

“If you think of the plasma like a human body, if you only look at the belly button, then you don’t know what’s happening with the head or the feet,” said PPPL’s head of advanced projects Luis Delgado-Aparicio, who leads the project. “Now we will be completing the picture, so we can study the entire body.”

What is XICS? XICS measures X-rays emitted by plasma to determine critical information, including temperature, flow speed and direction, along with the density of unwanted particles that can cool the plasma. These measurements are essential to keeping the fusion reaction stable. There are other systems that can gather such measurements, but they can sometimes provide inaccurate measurements if the temperature shifts. XICS’ advanced calibration system ensures every measurement is highly accurate.

Ultimately, the expanded and improved view provided by XICS will allow for a better understanding of how plasma behaves inside a fusion system like WEST, which is operated by France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in partnership with the EUROfusion consortium. It is one of many fusion systems worldwide known as a tokamak: a doughnut-shaped device that confines a plasma using magnetic fields. WEST is particularly interesting to study because its walls are made of tungsten, a material many fusion researchers believe is the best choice in terms of longevity and plasma management.

MIT is implementing the two off-axis XICS systems, which will show how temperature, rotation and tungsten impurity levels vary across the entire plasma — not just at one point, but mapped from the plasma’s core to edge. “This is crucial information for all heat, momentum and impurity transport studies,” said John Rice, a senior research scientist at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

Managing heat for future fusion systems

Delgado‑Aparicio and PPPL staff research scientist Tullio Barbui are also designing a new vertical multi-energy soft X-ray camera to pair with an existing horizontal camera on WEST. Much like XICS, the vertical multi-energy camera will provide insights into managing the heat inside a tungsten-clad tokamak. 

“Using the data produced by the multi-energy suite and by XICS, we’re going to all work together to understand particle transport, plasma confinement and radiation management and, ultimately, manage power loss so that fusion systems can run efficiently,” said Delgado‑Aparicio.

Livia Casali, an assistant professor, Zinkle Fellow and ITER scientist fellow at UTK, will design and execute experiments to test impurity behavior. The measurements from the new PPPL spectrometer will provide detailed constraints on radiation and impurity transport. Casali will then use her novel computer code, SICAS, to analyze the experimental data gathered in WEST and the tokamak JT-60SA which is in Naka, Japan. “Impurities affect radiation and temperature, which, in turn, modify plasma conditions that then alter impurity behavior,” Casali said. “SICAS captures this feedback loop consistently, producing a clear and unified view of the whole plasma system.” Casali’s code simulates ion and impurity transport across the entire plasma system within an integrated framework that allows each region to dynamically influence the others. 

Testing advanced scenarios on JT‑60SA

JT‑60SA, a tokamak operated by Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology in collaboration with Europe’s Fusion for Energy, will also receive a 3.3‑metric‑ton XICS system designed and built by PPPL. The XICS system has already been packed into seven large crates for shipment and will be installed and tested over the next two years, with the first data expected in September 2026.

The project will involve significant international collaboration and data sharing, with PPPL researchers working in Japan for the next four years. The project is just one way that PPPL continues to amplify its impact through partnerships with companies, universities and labs across the U.S. and the world.

“This project ties together what we learn on WEST and JT‑60SA and feeds it directly into PPPL’s broader tokamak program,” said Rajesh Maingi, head of tokamak experimental science at PPPL, who serves as the project’s formal monitor. “It’s a model for how U.S. laboratories can contribute high‑impact diagnostics to international facilities.”

Livia Casali, an assistant professor, Zinkle Fellow and ITER research scientist fellow at WEST, is pictured in Cadarache, France. 

Credit

Photo courtesy of Livia Casali / UTK

DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil is pictured (fifth from left) in Japan, with the opened crates containing PPPL’s X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer. 

Credit

Sunny Nyhus / PPPL

PPPL, QST and RVI staff meet to do final vacuum tests of the X‑ray imaging system at RVI in Honey Brook, PA.

Credit

Sunny Nyhus / PPPL

About PPPL

PPPL is mastering the art of using plasma — the fourth state of matter — to solve some of the world’s toughest science and technology challenges. Nestled on Princeton University’s Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, New Jersey, our research ignites innovation in a range of applications, including fusion energy, nanoscale fabrication, quantum materials and devices, and sustainability science. The University manages the Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Feel the heat at https://energy.gov/science and https://www.pppl.gov.

SCI-FI-TEK 70 YRS IN THE MAKING

After record-breaking results in fusion research, this highly successful project is winding down to make way for new experiments

The Large Helical Device produced key findings about fusion for nearly 30 years

Princeton University

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Japan’s Large Helical Device operated for nearly 30 years.

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Credit: Photo courtesy of Novimir Pablant / PPPL

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is celebrating the successful conclusion of a research marathon on Japan’s Large Helical Device (LHD). Since it began operations in 1998, LHD has been a critical test bed for international research on fusion energy, helping to prove that stellarators can be a stable and reliable pathway toward creating a limitless source of energy on Earth. 

The international collaboration involved a few dozen PPPL researchers, some of whom lived in Toki, Japan, for months at a time to work alongside colleagues at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS). With the program’s final experimental campaign now officially completed, LHD leaves behind a wealth of data that will guide the design of future power plants. 

“LHD pushed science forward in so many areas, both in terms of theory and experimental findings,” said Novimir Pablant, the division head for stellarator experiments at PPPL. “It played a role similar to PPPL’s Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor for tokamaks; you can’t point to one single thing it did because it contributed to advancing the scientific principles necessary for the realization of future fusion systems across the board.” Pablant said LHD has also developed and matured many technologies needed for fusion, including the superconducting coils that confine the plasma fuel, the high-energy neutral beams that heat it and hardware designed for extended periods rather than short bursts.

Two possible paths to star power
Fusion is the same process that powers the sun and the stars. It occurs when the centers of atoms, called nuclei, are forced together under extreme pressures and temperatures in a process that releases massive amounts of energy. Fusion energy scientists work with plasma: an ultrahot, charged gas that can be manipulated by magnetic fields. During fusion, the plasma can reach temperatures hotter than the core of the sun. So, it cannot be held by any physical container. Instead, machines like LHD use massive superconducting magnets to try to hold the plasma at the ideal temperatures and pressures for fusion energy production. 

Two of the leading designs for these machines are the tokamak and the stellarator. Tokamaks, such as PPPL’s National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade, use a doughnut-shaped chamber and a combination of external magnets and an electrical current running through the plasma to create the magnetic field that holds the plasma in place. LHD, in contrast, is a stellarator. These kinds of fusion systems rely entirely on precisely shaped external magnets twisted into complex configurations to shape the plasma. Experimental results from LHD offer insights that complement tokamak research as scientists work toward making fusion a practical energy source.

“We have known since the 1970s that stellarators could solve the sustainment and disruption problems that have challenged tokamaks forever,” said Michael Zarnstorff, a physicist at PPPL and former deputy director for research. “LHD proved this definitively, showing the fusion community that you can eliminate the disruption problem simply by building the machine with this type of magnetic configuration. LHD sustained megawatt-level plasmas for almost an hour.”

PPPL’s innovative diagnostics were an important part of LHD
PPPL brought significant U.S. technical expertise to LHD in Japan, particularly in the field of diagnostics: the specialized tools used to measure what is happening inside the plasma. 

“For more than 20 years, PPPL has contributed a great deal to our project. They have brought great knowledge and expertise to LHD experiments and published many papers based on LHD data,” said Motoshi Goto, a professor at SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) and researcher at NIFS in Japan. “We have very close relationships between our institutes, and the diagnostic systems developed through this collaboration are currently among the best in the world.”

One major contribution was the X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (XICS). This diagnostic allowed scientists to measure ion temperatures and plasma flows with incredible precision. Another key piece of hardware was the impurity powder dropper, a device designed to improve plasma performance by adding precise amounts of impurities during fusion.

These contributions helped LHD achieve several world-record milestones. While tokamaks often struggle with sudden plasma disruptions that can halt an experiment, the LHD’s unique helical design proved it could run smoothly for long periods. The machine achieved steady-state pulses lasting up to 48 minutes, a feat that demonstrated its potential for the continuous operation required by a commercial power plant.

“LHD has a unique feature to produce plasmas resistant and resilient to external disturbances, and the PPPL powder dropper can control the supply of many kinds of species to plasma easily and flexibly. This combination has opened many new doors in plasma physics and fusion science,” said Hiroshi Yamada, NIFS director general and professor emeritus of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences at The University of Tokyo.

PPPL staff research physicist Federico Nespoli started working with collaborators from LHD on the impurity powder dropper when he first joined the Lab in 2019. “We still have a lot of data that we collected during the last LHD experimental campaign, and I will definitely keep working with NIFS colleagues on the analysis and interpretation of these data, as well as extending our research to similar experiments to be performed in the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany as part of our international team,” said Nespoli.

Some experiments looked at the interaction between the materials that make up the inside of LHD and the plasma to try to find the ideal materials to make future stellarators. Shota Abe, another PPPL staff research physicist, was part of a team that put samples of diamond and diamond-like carbon materials into LHD to see how it could handle the heat. The diamond samples were made at PPPL’s Quantum Diamond Laboratory before traveling to Japan. “It’s a very exciting project because it’s synergistic, both internationally and interdisciplinarily. It brings together people from  LHD, PPPL fusion researchers and people who work in PPPL’s Quantum Diamond Lab,” Abe said.

PPPL and NIFS collaborations to continue
Though LHD completed its final run, Goto says its scientific impact is far from over. NIFS has made all 27 years of LHD experimental data publicly available on the web, an important contribution to global science. This open-access policy allows researchers at PPPL and other institutions around the world to continue analyzing the findings for years to come. This data will be vital as scientists move toward building the next generation of optimized stellarators, which aim to be even more efficient.

“There is still a great deal of analysis to be done on the data from the final LHD campaigns. The inherent stability of LHD’s magnetic configuration provided us with a unique dataset, which will be of great interest as the world fusion program moves toward steady-state devices such as a fusion pilot plant,” said PPPL research physicist Robert Lunsford.

The collaboration between PPPL and NIFS will also transition to new, more flexible experimental devices. These include the Compact Helical Device (CHD) and its upgraded version, CHD-U. These machines will focus on understanding “micro-collective phenomena,” exploring how individual particles move and interact within the plasma.

“LHD has been incredibly valuable as a diagnostic test bed,” Pablant said. “We were able to take the knowledge, engineering and physics lessons learned over decades and successfully transfer those concepts to other devices, ensuring that LHD’s legacy continues in the next generation of machines.”

PPPL’s contributions to this work were performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under contract number DE-AC02-09CH11466.

About Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
PPPL is mastering the art of using plasma — the fourth state of matter — to solve some of the world’s toughest science and technology challenges. Nestled on Princeton University’s Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, New Jersey, our research ignites innovation in a range of applications, including fusion energy, nanoscale fabrication, quantum materials and devices, and sustainability science. The University manages the Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Feel the heat at https://energy.gov/science and https://www.pppl.gov.  

 SCI-FI-TEK 70 YRS IN THE MAKING

National report supports measurement innovation to aid commercial fusion energy and enable new plasma technologies

Princeton University

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To operate fusion systems safely and reliably, scientists need to monitor plasma fuel conditions and measure properties like temperature and density that can affect fusion reactions. Making these measurements requires specialized sensors known as diagnostics.

A new report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recommends increased investment in America’s fusion diagnostic capabilities, a critical new technology that could provide DOE and Congress with information to speed up the delivery of commercial fusion power plants.

The report was produced as part of the DOE’s 2024 Basic Research Needs Workshop on Measurement Innovation, sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program. It was chaired by Luis Delgado-Aparicio, head of advanced projects at the DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), and co-chaired by Sean Regan, a distinguished scientist and the director of the Experimental Division at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

The workshop gathered experts from academia, private industry and national laboratories like PPPL to identify the critical diagnostics and measurement technologies needed to advance U.S. leadership in fusion energy and plasma technologies. This workshop supported the goals outlined in the DOE’s Fusion Science & Technology Roadmap, which “targets actions and milestones out to the mid-2030s, providing the scientific and technological foundation to support a competitive U.S. fusion energy industry.”

“Measurement innovations have led and will continue to lead to scientific and engineering breakthroughs in plasma science and technology activities supported by the DOE’s FES, especially fusion energy sciences,” said Delgado-Aparicio. “This new report provides substantive findings across seven key areas of plasma and fusion science and technology. We believe it will impact both the public and private fusion communities in a meaningful way.”

“The findings in this report are a testament to the critical role of diagnostics in driving fusion energy science forward,” said Regan. “By investing in innovative measurement technologies, we can accelerate progress toward commercial fusion energy and strengthen America’s leadership in plasma science.”

The report summarizes findings from 70 researchers who analyzed seven plasma physics topics funded by the DOE’s FES program. These include:

• Low-temperature plasma.
• High-energy-density plasma.
• Plasma-material interaction.
• Burning plasma created through magnetic-confinement fusion (MCF).
• Burning plasma created through inertial-confinement fusion (ICF).
• Fusion pilot power plants based on MCF.
• Fusion power plants based on ICF.

The researchers identified ways in which the federal government could boost the capability of U.S. scientists to use diagnostics to measure plasma. Those priority research opportunities include creating diagnostics that can withstand the levels of radiation expected in future fusion power plants, inventing new measurement techniques that can measure the ultra-quick processes involved in ICF, using artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the design processes for these innovations and supporting a robust pathway for scientists to enter into diagnostics research. These same capabilities underpin a broader plasma-technology ecosystem critical to U.S. economic leadership.

“Both Luis and I thank the members of the working groups and the broader community for their dedication and hard work in putting this report together,” Regan said. “Their expertise and collaboration have been instrumental in identifying the critical innovations needed to advance diagnostic technologies.”

Below is the list of major findings outlined in the report:

• Accelerate Innovation: The pace of progress for measurement innovations for the FES community, especially for realizing nuclear fusion energy, could be accelerated by validating and verifying design modeling codes, AI and machine learning, and the use of digital twins.
• Establish a National Network: Measurement innovation offers a critical cross-cutting thread within the FES community and could be better supported by a program modeled after LaserNetUS. Such a community could be called CalibrationNetUS.
• Form National Teams: National teams should be formed to transform ideas for measurement innovations into working diagnostics in an efficient and economical way.
• Standardize Calibrations: A more systematic approach to diagnostic calibrations would significantly benefit measurement innovations.
• Transfer Knowledge to the Private Sector: Transferring diagnostics and operational expertise from the public sector to private facilities offers synergistic benefits to the fusion energy science community.
• Invest in a Workforce Pipeline: The measurement innovations needed for fusion pilot plants require a momentous workforce development effort.
• Plan Now for Remote Operations: Measurement innovations needed for remote operation and maintenance of fusion pilot plants should be the topic of future workshops.

About the report

The full report is available online, along with an executive summary.

The report was produced under the leadership of Delgado-Aparicio and Regan, with guidance from Curt Bolton of FES. The working groups led the development of the chapters. The workshop was organized collaboratively with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education team. Editorial and project management support was provided by PPPL’s Communications Department, including B. Rose Huber, Raphael Rosen and Kelly Lorraine Andrews. Michael Branigan of Sandbox Studio led art direction and design with illustrations by Ariel Davis.

# # #

PPPL is mastering the art of using plasma — the fourth state of matter — to solve some of the world's toughest science and technology challenges. Nestled on Princeton University’s Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, New Jersey, our research ignites innovation in a range of applications, including fusion energy, nanoscale fabrication, quantum materials and devices, and sustainability science. The University manages the Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Feel the heat at https://energy.gov/science and http://www.pppl.gov.  

The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) is a premier research facility dedicated to advancing the science of fusion energy and high-energy-density physics. LLE’s Omega Laser Facility is the world’s largest laser system in academia and plays a pivotal role in developing diagnostics for ICF and other plasma technologies. Learn more at https://www.lle.rochester.edu.

 SCI-FI-TEK 70 YRS IN THE MAKING

ORNL and Kyoto Fusioneering partner to build critical fusion infrastructure

New collaboration leverages organizations' expertise to develop critical fusion blanket test facility

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Kyoto Fusioneering’s UNITY-1 blanket and thermal cycle test facility will complement the new breeding blanket testing infrastructure being developed with ORNL.

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Credit: Kyoto Fusioneering

Anchoring the strategic partnership announced today by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Kyoto Fusioneering (KF), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and KF have established a new public-private partnership that leverages each institution’s expertise in fusion technology to accelerate the deployment of commercial fusion power. ORNL and KF will develop cutting-edge experimental infrastructure to test and validate next-generation tritium breeding blanket systems, a critical technology for producing the fuel needed to sustain fusion power generation. 

The agreement includes working towards the creation of UNITY-3, a world-leading breeding blanket test facility capable of testing blanket concepts in prototypic fusion nuclear conditions. The facility will be sited at ORNL. These R&D activities will advance mutual commercial and research goals of both organizations, as well as drive down risk for fusion pilot plant (FPP) programs.

“Fusion energy represents a transformational opportunity for our energy future,” said Dr. Darío Gil, DOE Under Secretary for Science. “This partnership reflects DOE’s commitment to working with trusted allies and the private sector to build critical infrastructure, strengthen American competitiveness, and deliver real, measurable progress toward making fusion energy a reality.”

UNITY-3 will complement KF and its partners’ existing Unique Integrated Testing Facility™ (UNITY) Program, which includes the UNITY-1 blanket and thermal cycle test facility operating in Kyoto, Japan, and the UNITY-2 deuterium-tritium fuel cycle facility under construction in Chalk River, Canada.

Through the partnership, ORNL and KF will close critical gaps identified in the DOE Office of Science’s Fusion Science & Technology Roadmap and advance the technology readiness levels of tritium breeding blanket and fuel cycle systems. This collaboration will also develop key infrastructure, accelerate discovery through industry-informed collaborative research, and grow the U.S. fusion sector through strategic public-private partnerships as part of DOE’s Tritium Blanket Development Platform under the Fusion Nuclear Science mission.

As the largest multi-program science and technology laboratory in the DOE complex, ORNL is at the forefront of supercomputing, neutron science, materials research and advanced manufacturing, all of which can support the design, validation and fabrication of advanced blanket systems for future fusion energy devices.

“Moving breeding blanket technology from theory to real-world application is crucial in realizing a path to fusion energy,” said Troy Carter, director of ORNL’s Fusion Energy Division. “By combining ORNL’s deep expertise in fusion systems, materials and blanket research with Kyoto Fusioneering’s unique technology and engineering expertise, and integrated test platforms, this partnership can strengthen the public-private fusion ecosystem and support the commercialization of fusion energy.”

KF is a privately funded fusion technology group of companies with headquarters in Japan and subsidiaries in the U.S., the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Canada. KF is focused on developing high-performance advanced technologies and integrated systems for commercial fusion power systems, including electron cyclotron resonance heating and alternative plasma heating, tritium fuel processing, and breeding blanket technology for fuel production and power generation. 

“Partnering with ORNL allows us to tackle one of fusion’s hardest remaining cross-cutting challenges: validating breeding blanket performance in a nuclear environment. This collaboration operationalizes the DOE’s ‘Build-Innovate-Grow’ strategy, combining ORNL’s deep scientific lineage in fusion nuclear science and engineering with KF’s fusion technology and engineering expertise,” said Bibake Uppal, Vice-President and Head of KF’s U.S. subsidiary, Kyoto Fusioneering America. “Leaning on our respective strengths through this public-private partnership, we will rapidly build essential infrastructure to close critical technology gaps and directly de-risk and accelerate the path to a fusion pilot plant.”

ORNL and KF have ongoing collaborations through DOE’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program, which involves evaluating the effect of lead-lithium mixtures for fusion blankets, and DOE’s Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) Collaborative program, where KF’s UNITY-1 facility will contribute to the ORNL-led Blanket Collaborative on Test Facilities project by investigating liquid metal blanket concepts.

In addition to establishing the UNITY-3 facility, ORNL and KF will co-develop a plan for public-private technology commercialization and explore opportunities for technical expertise and personnel exchanges between the organizations.

DOE-KF announcement linked here.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.