$12.5 Million in Subcontracts Awarded For Fusion
Experiment at Princeton
Plainsboro, N.J. - The U.S. Department of Energy's (USDOE)
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has awarded
subcontracts for the fabrication of major components for
the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX), now
under construction at the Laboratory. NCSX will explore the
physics of an innovative concept for fusion energy
production and will advance the understanding of the related
basic science. PPPL is building the new experiment in
partnership with the USDOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory
in Tennessee.
A team led by Energy Industries of Ohio, Inc., of
Independence, Ohio, has been selected to manufacture the
winding forms upon which unique, modular electromagnetic
coils will be mounted. Team members include the C.A. Lawton
Company, Pattern Division, of DePerre, Wis.; MetalTek
International, Carondelet Division, of Pevely, Mo.; and
Major Tool and Machine, Inc., of Indianapolis, Ind. In
addition to being part of the winding form team, Major Tool
and Machine was awarded a subcontract to manufacture the
NCSX vacuum chamber. These components will form the heart of
NCSX, which will use a magnetic field to confine a hot
ionized gas (plasma) fuel. The modular electromagnets will
help shape the magnetic field confining the NCSX plasma
within the vacuum chamber.
"These are the most challenging and critical components of
NCSX, and we are delighted to award these contracts to such
superbly qualified industrial subcontractors," said PPPL
Director Robert J. Goldston. The key innovative feature of
NCSX is its complex shape, designed through advanced
computer simulations, that is predicted to be able to
support a high-efficiency, fully steady-state fusion system.
The complex shape makes construction of its components
especially challenging. Energy Industries' contract is
valued at approximately $8 million and Major Tool's at
approximately $4.5 million. Funded entirely by the USDOE's
Office of Science, the construction of NCSX will cost an
estimated $86.3 million. It is scheduled to begin operation
in 2008.
NCSX's modular coils are among the most complex, innovative
electromagnets ever designed. Energy Industries will
manufacture six identical sets, each comprised of three
types of intricately shaped forms. Delivery of the first
winding form is expected in May, 2005. PPPL engineers will
then wind layers of insulated copper conductor around the
forms to create the modular coils. The 25,000-pound NCSX
vacuum vessel resembles a twisted doughnut. It will be made
of Inconel 625, an alloy that is hard to form, but has high
electrical resistivity that will suppress electrical
currents that might interfere with plasma confinement.
As an alternative energy source, fusion has many advantages,
including worldwide long-term availability of low-cost fuel,
no contribution to acid rain or greenhouse gas emissions, no
possibility of a runaway or chain reaction, by-products
unsuitable for weapons development, and minimum problems of
waste disposal. PPPL, funded by the U.S. Department of
Energy's Office of Science and managed by Princeton
University, is a collaborative national center for science
and innovation leading to an attractive fusion energy. |