United States The US Department of Energy (DoE) has given a three-year $2.7 million grant to the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The grant will enable the university to carry out more advanced studies of plasma at higher pressures, part of the international programme of research being carried out into nuclear fusion.
Compared with similarly spherical torus experiments elsewhere in the world, Pegasus is closest to a sphere in shape.
Professor Fonck, director of the Pegasus team, said: “Its mission is to explore what happens when you make the hole in the torus as small as possible. The smaller you make the hole, the more efficient the system is because the less magnetic field you need to keep the plasma stable.” The renewed funding will suport the remodelling of the experiment and upgrade of its power, control and diagnostic systems.
