DOE Funds University-Led Projects to Develop Steady-State Fusion Reactors

The Department of Energy has awarded $14M in total funding to 10 university-led research projects to develop a new approach to fusion energy production. 

DOE said Monday the collaborative research focuses on understanding and assessing the potential use of magnetically confined plasmas in the development of steady-state fusion reactors. 

It will take place at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by General Atomics in San Diego which houses the largest magnetic confinement system in the U.S. 

The projects range from improving operating diagnostic systems to developing new methods of controlling plasma instabilities and were selected via a competitive process. 

The 10 awarded teams were from leading universities in the U.S. including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Columbia University.