Fusion research seeks to recreate on earth the processes responsible for powering the sun. Fusing atoms, which requires temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees Celsius, promises an abundant, carbon-free source of energy.
But first, researchers need to tame the beast — the ionized gas plasma held in magnetic fields inside a reactor known as a tokamak. Armed with recent federal grants, University of Florida researchers are working to do just that.
For Christopher McDevitt, Ph.D., a plasma physicist and professor in UF’s Nuclear Engineering program, understanding, predicting and ultimately preventing “off-normal” plasma behaviors inside a tokamak is the central challenge facing researchers around the world as they try to harness the energy released by fusing atoms together.
Read more about UF Researchers Using Machine Learning To Pursue Fusion Power.
