Having the opportunity to visit the MIT Plasma Reactor is a unique experience that I’m never going to forget. The Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a research laboratory for the study of plasma physics and nuclear fusion. “It’s mission is to provide research and educational opportunities for expanding the scientific understanding of the physics of plasmas, the “fourth state of matter,” and to use that knowledge to develop useful applications. The central focus of PSFC activities has been to create a scientific and engineering base for the development of fusion power. Nevertheless, non-fusion applications involving plasmas at the PSFC are numerous and diverse. A recent example is the significant growth of programs in plasma-based technologies, including environmental remediation and hydrogen production. ” (http://www.psfc.mit.edu/about/index.html)

In this trip to MIT I learned that there is plasma everywhere and everywhere we see. Examples of plasma’s are planets, stars…

Why should we care about this fusion vs nuclear fusion?   Because there is a tremendous potential, there is no danger in it turning into a deadly weapon and fusion has no danger melt down. Why fusion vs most renewable? efficient land use and base load electricity production. Why fusion vs fossil fuels? Because it doesn’t emit green house gases. Disadvantages: Structural Materials become radioactive, It costs a lot of money and it doesn’t work YET.

Here are some images I took while in the Plasma Reactor at MIT.

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