The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy Facility

DOE Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory VOL. 3, NO. 1 • SPRING/SUMMER 1999

Energy Secretary Celebrates

NSTX “First Plasma”

On February 26, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson came to the

U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

(PPPL) for a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of

experimental operations on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Above, from left, are Laboratory Director Rob

Goldston, N. Anne Davies, Associate Director for Fusion Energy

Sciences at the DOE Office of Science, Representative Rush Holt

(NJ-12th), Secretary Richardson, Representative Rodney

Frelinghuysen (NJ-11th), Princeton University President Harold

Shapiro, and Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand. At

right, PPPL staff see the “first plasma” produced by NSTX on a

monitor in the NSTX Control Room on February 12. NSTX Program Director Martin Peng is at far right at front and PPPL

Director Rob Goldston is seated. (See stories inside.)
PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999 Page 2

The PPPL NEWS is issued by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a research facility

supported by the United States Department of Energy and managed by Princeton University.

Correspondence and requests to reprint material should be directed to: Information Services,

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, NJ 08543; telephone 609-243-2750;

fax 609-243-2751; e-mail info@pppl.gov .

 PPPL NEWS

Information Services Head: Anthony R. DeMeo

Editor: Patti Wieser

Photographer: Elle Starkman

Layout and Graphics: Patti Wieser, Gregory J. Czechowicz,

and Elle Starkman

Amid the cheers and jubilation of PPPL staff, the

National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)

achieved first plasma on February 12, at 6:06 p.m. Its

flash across the monitors in the NSTX Control Room

signaled the successful construction of the Laboratory’s

new experimental fusion device, heralding the start of an

exciting research adventure at PPPL.

“We’ve created a star again in the Laboratory,” noted

PPPL scientist Henry Kugel.

Hours before first plasma was produced, technicians,

physicists, engineers, and interested staffers began to fill

NSTX Achieves First Plasma

Gathered around the monitor displaying the first NSTX plasma, are

(from left) Henry Kugel, Masa Ono, Rob Goldston, John DeLooper,

and Rich Hawryluk.

up the NSTX Control Room in anticipation. Before

researchers attempted to produce a plasma, a series of

tests on the magnetic coils and diagnostics for the machine was conducted.

As the clock ticked down, people gathered around the

monitors to wait for the bright appearance of a plasma.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the wait paid off. Following the count

down, a flash beamed across the screens.

New Adventure

“This is a tremendous accomplishment by the whole

NSTX Team. The combination of energetic enthusiasm

and care for all of the critical details is wonderful to see.

It makes me very proud of all of us. This first result from

NSTX reflects well not only on PPPL, but on the whole

U.S. and world fusion program. We are started off on a

new adventure. I believe that it will be an exciting one!”

said PPPL Director Rob Goldston.

Added NSTX Project Director Masa Ono, “I’m very

excited about actually getting first plasma. This is due to

the great teamwork we have and to the dedication, capabilities, and experience of everyone involved. Everything

came together in the critical moment.”

“First plasma” marked the beginning of NSTX experimental operations, following a national design and

construction effort completed 10 weeks ahead of schedule and right on budget. ●
Page 3 PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999

On February 26, the mood at the Laboratory was,

simply, “irrepressible.”

The staff could not contain its excitement about the visit

by U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, who was

described by one elected official as “irrepressible.” The

Secretary came for a ceremony marking the beginning of

experimental operations on the National Spherical Torus

Experiment (NSTX).

“I want to applaud everyone at this Laboratory for the

path-breaking success of the National Spherical Torus Experiment, which through hard work has been brought in

ahead of schedule and on budget,” said Secretary Richardson

during the NSTX ribbon cutting ceremony. “It is outstanding research such as this that leads to important breakthroughs.”

Secretary Richardson was assisted in the ribbon cutting

by Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) and Rush

Holt (NJ-12), Associate Director for Fusion Energy Sciences Anne Davies, Princeton University President Harold

Shapiro, Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand,

PPPL Director Rob Goldston, NSTX Program Director

Martin Peng, and NSTX Project Director Masa Ono.

 “This new machine is like music to the ears of the

appropriations committee — on time and on budget,” said

Congressman Frelinghuysen. The Congressman, a strong

supporter of PPPL and of fusion research, is on the Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee.

Irrepressible Secretary Lauds Lab

Secretary Richardson (holding fluorescent tube) demonstrates how

a plasma globe lights a fluorescent bulb to a group of Trenton

students. At far left is PPPL Science Education Program Head Diane

Carroll and at far right is PPPL Director Rob Goldston.

NSTX Program Director Martin Peng (left) discusses the project with

Secretary Richardson (middle) and NSTX Project Director Masayuki

Ono (right).

“This new machine is like

music to the ears of the

appropriations committee —

on time and on budget.”

— Congressman Frelinghuysen

Added Congressman Holt, “NSTX is an example of

what the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboaratory has to

offer...I am proud of the research and teaching taking place

at the Lab.” Holt is a former assistant director of PPPL.

Thanking the Congressmen, Secretary Richardson emphasized the importance of bi-partisan support. He also

lauded the Laboratory for its accomplishments and stressed

the significance of the Department of Energy’s collaboration with Princeton. “I’m committed to this Lab and to the

relationship of DOE with Princeton University ...The research at PPPL has the potential to revolutionize the world.”

The visit included a senior staff meeting and overview

with community leaders including Plainsboro Township

Mayor Peter Cantu, a tour, the NSTX ribbon cutting ceremony, a science education demonstration with students

from Trenton’s P.J. Hill Elementary School, and an “all

hands” staff meeting in the MBG Auditorium.

Secretary Richardson told the visiting youngsters, “Fusion is the power source of the stars and some day it will be

a power souce on the earth because of this research, PPPL,

and children like you.”

The Secretary drew a packed auditorium during the all

hands meeting, in which he addressed staff and responded to

questions. “You’ve had some tough times here. That’s

another reason why I’m here — to say ‘thank you,’” he said.

Recapping the day, Goldston said, “The spirit of the day

with Secretary Richardson, and Congressmen Holt and

Frelinghuysen was ‘irrepressible.’ It certainly made me

smile from ear to ear to hear the enthusiasm expressed for

fusion and for PPPL by these three key leaders.” ●
PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999 Page 4

NSTX Makes a Splash

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Staff Bash Celebrate Machine’s First Plasma
Page 5 PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999
PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999 Page 6

They Had a Dream ...

NSTX Team Leaders Ono and Peng See the Culmination of Aspiration

Continued on page 7

From left are Program Director Martin Peng and Project

Director Masayuki Ono in front of the NSTX device.

Some science projects require the direction of a superhuman. In the case of the National Spherical Torus

Experiment (NSTX), the project needs — simply — “two enthusiastic scientists who have complementary

backgrounds and are willing to work together,” according to its co-heads. Project Director Masayuki Ono and

Program Director Martin Peng presently co-head the national collaborative project, which began operating at

PPPL in February. Below are their stories.

Continued on page 8

By Patti Wieser

When Masa Ono was

growing up in Japan,

he dreamed of becoming a medical research doctor so that he

could help people.

“I wanted to become a scientist to cure diseases,” said Ono,

recalling his childhood idol,

Hideo Noguchi, a Japanese

medical pioneer.

Later, as a physics student at

the California Institute of Technology, Ono discovered another

avenue for helping others. It was

plasma physics, which held the

promise of benefiting humankind through the development

of an alternative power source.

“I was studying physics when I found out about fusion

and it sounded very exciting,” said Ono. “It has great

potential for humankind and Princeton was the place to

be.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics from

CalTech in 1973 he came to PPPL as a graduate student

and received a Ph.D. in plasma physics from Princeton

University. He joined the research staff at PPPL in 1978.

Today he is the Project Director for the National Spherical

Torus Experiment (NSTX), a new, innovative fusion

energy research device at PPPL.

“I hope NSTX will be a successful physics machine

and it will help the Lab and the fusion program to prosper

— that this will ignite broad enthusiasm for fusion,” said

Ono. Scientists believe NSTX could lead to a less expensive path to fusion energy.

Ono, who moved to the U.S. as a young teenager,

began his career at the Laboratory working on the Linear4 machine, which was modified to become the Advanced

Torus Concepts-I (ACT-I), a toroidal device that marked

the start of Ono’s design work.

For Martin Peng, this year’s

start of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)

marks the culmination of a 15-

year quest.

A decade and a half ago,

Peng, now NSTX Program Director, developed the low aspect

ratio “spherical” torus concept

that is the basis for NSTX. This

concept could ultimately simplify engineering and make fusion energy affordable and practical.

Peng came up with the idea

when he began looking at how to

increase plasma beta in tokamak

plasmas. “I always had a bend

for applications and knew that plasma beta was very

important, and I began wondering about the best way to

improve it in tokamaks. It became obvious at that time

that beta would increase if the aspect ratio was reduced,”

said Peng, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

employee on a long-term assignment at PPPL.

Aspect ratio is the ratio of the plasma’s major radius

to its minor radius. The name spherical torus comes from

the shape of the plasma. As the plasma’s aspect ratio

becomes smaller, the plasma elongates naturally and

takes on a spherical shape instead of the donut-shape of

standard tokamak plasmas. A higher beta means that

greater plasma pressure, thus more fusion output, is

achieved in a given magnetic field; or conversely, that the

same output can be achieved in a weaker field. “High

plasma pressure well confined in a low magnetic field has

always been our great dream,” Peng said.

Natural Inclination to Tinker

Peng, whose engineering background prods him to

approach physics puzzles with a practical bend, has
Page 7 PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999

Typical Day

A typical day for Ono begins with an 8:30 a.m. staff

meeting, a check of his myriad e-mails to see what is

planned, and then meeting after meeting, where potential

problems are discussed and solved.

“My job is making sure everyone communicates and

that they all understand the scope of the work,” said Ono,

who also reports on the project’s progress to the Department of Energy and upper management at PPPL. It is a

different hat than the one he donned as an experimentalist

designing toroidal and spherical torus machines, running

experiments, and analyzing data. Now he heads a team

and “helps create an environment for researchers to be

productive,” he said.

Ono, an American Physical Society Fellow and PPPL

Distinguished Research Fellow, lauded the NSTX team

and described his job as “a lot of fun.”

“I get to work with many people who have different

skills, backgrounds, and knowledge. It is a busy but

rewarding job,” he said.

To unwind, Ono, the father of three sons and one

daughter, often works out at the local gym with one of his

sons, and is the self-described “handiman” at home,

where he enjoys projects such as building a deck and

installing new windows. Working with his hands gives

him a break from his desk and meeting-bound job.

In addition, he is the president of the Princeton

Community Japanese Language School, a non-profit entity created in 1980 to teach area children the Japanese

language and culture. Ono’s wife, Sakiko, is an administrator for the school.

Interested in Education

“I’m interested in education. I like students and

working with them because they are our future. They

bring fresh perspectives and keep you young,” said Ono,

who also has worked with many graduate students at

PPPL and is a Lecturer with the rank of Professor for the

Program in Plasma Physics in Princeton University’s

Astrophysical Sciences Department.

Being fond of fresh perspectives is one of the things

that drew Ono to the spherical torus. “I myself like new

things so it is logical for me to go in the spherical torus

direction. Fusion is complex and coming up with a good

fusion reactor is a challenge. We should look at all the

possibilities,” he said.

He said seeing NSTX produce first plasma and participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony with Secretary of

Energy Bill Richardson was “a great honor and great

fun.”

“I’m very happy and excited and privileged to be

where I am,” he said. ●

Ono

Continued from page 6

By 1986, the seed for a spherical torus was planted.

Ono met Martin Peng, now the Program Director for

NSTX, when the latter was reviewing the Current Drive

Experiment-Upgrade (CDX-U) design, which Ono had

developed with PPPL graduate students.

Six years later, at an international meeting, Rob

Goldston, now the Director of PPPL and then the head of

the Research Council, suggested to Ono a larger spherical

torus. Around the same time, the director of the Oak Ridge

National Laboratory suggested to Peng, who was at Oak

Ridge, a joint spherical torus project with PPPL.

“I started working with Martin in 1992 and Stan Kaye

soon joined forces with us. Peng named it the Princeton

Spherical Torus Experiment, but it became a larger project

— a national effort — so the name became the National

Spherical Torus Experiment,” said Ono.

He continued to head the CDX-U project while collaborating on the design of NSTX and in 1996, CDX-U

was transformed into a prototype of NSTX. CDX-U

became a high harmonic fast wave heating experiment

because fast wave heating appeared to be one of the few

viable ways to heat NSTX plasmas to a very high temperature.

First Plasma

In February of this year, the construction of NSTX

was completed and the machine produced its first plasma.

Ono and Peng presently co-head NSTX. “Martin provides the vision and I help make it real,” remarked Ono

about his and Peng’s roles.

In other words, Peng works with many researchers in

the fusion community to formulate the research plan and

with experimental task leaders to cover the scientific

elements of the research, while Ono manages the NSTX

operations, working with a national team of physicists,

engineers, and technicians to make the project and its

experiments possible. PPPL Director Rob Goldston played

a crucial role in the formulation of this arrangement.

“Since 1986, we have been working

toward this kind of facility for PPPL

and for the fusion community.”

—Masayuki Ono

For Peng and Ono, it has been a long road to fulfill

their joint aspiration. “Since 1986, we have been working

toward this kind of facility for PPPL and for the fusion

community,” said Ono.
PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999 Page 8

always had a natural inclination to tinker with things. As

a young boy growing up in Taiwan, he built small rockets

from scratch and made airplane gliders using pieces of

plastic for wings. During his teen years, he enjoyed

repairing his car and went on to study engineering at the

National Taiwan University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. In 1974, he received a

Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University and

joined the research staff at ORNL.

By the early 1980s, Peng became involved in studying fusion power plant designs and future devices at

ORNL, as well as the International Tokamak Reactor

(INTOR), the predecessor to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The assessments

drew him to investigate how to qualitatively improve

beta. “I believe engineering serves the goal of research

and if this goal is to increase beta, then we had to look at

the engineering approach that would allow us to go to a

very low-aspect ratio,” he said.

Peng worked out the theoretical calculations for lowaspect ratio by the mid-eighties. Toward the end of the

decade, he worked with colleagues to propose a spherical

torus experiment.

“What pushed me to continue over the years was the

prospect of an order of magnitude increase in beta and an

order of magnitude reduction in the magnetic field

strengths in a spherical torus,” he said. While serving on

a review panel in the late 1980s, Peng encouraged researchers to upgrade PPPL’s Current Drive Experiment

(CDX) to a low-aspect ratio configuration. During this

time, he met Masayuki Ono, then Head of CDX and

presently Project Director of NSTX.

Peng went on to work with the Russian researchers at

the Ioffe Institute and with British researchers at Culham

Laboratory, where the Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak (START), a spherical torus, was eventually constructed.

By the mid-nineties, the restructured U.S. fusion

program emphasized concept innovation, as well as national collaboration. Peng began regularly coming to

PPPL to work with Rob Goldston, Ono, and Stan Kaye on

the Princeton Spherical Torus Experiment, which evolved

into the National Spherical Torus Experiment.

NSTX is truly a national collaborative effort that

brings Peng and Ono together as co-directors of the

project. Said Peng of his work with Ono, “We are very

fortunate to have hit on an arrangement in which we have

a complementary dual role. We constantly talk about

what we are doing and know what we have to do sepaPeng

Continued from page 6

rately, in concert, to make this research program successful.”

As Program Director, Peng works with many researchers in the fusion community to formulate the research plan for NSTX and with experimental task leaders

to cover the scientific elements of the research.

The project leaves little time for outside activities.

“Right now my life evolves around work and family,” said

Peng, the father of three. When not traveling, he typically

arrives at the Lab around 8 a.m. and works until 7 p.m. His

days at PPPL and on the road are filled with meetings, emails, and interaction with researchers from 13 other

institutions across the U.S. who are collaborating on the

project. In addition, Peng is in frequent contact with DOE

officials and leaders in fusion research.

His schedule poses one particular difficulty — finding time to work on outside scientific endeavors. “One of

the problems we all face is that there are so many ideas we

would like to test out. You must be diligent about getting

things accomplished to be successful at work and then,

once in a while, squeeze in something extra,” said Peng.

Fusion Power Source for NASA

One of these “extras” is developing a spherical torus

power source for NASA’s Deep Space Manned Mission.

Fusion energy is the only power source capable of sending

a manned mission to Jupiter, noted Peng. A chemical

source of fuel for rockets is sufficient for closer missions,

but would be so large for a vehicle to Jupiter that it would

become impractical. Fusion power is 450 times more

powerful than a chemical source. Presently, Peng is involved in a small study funded by NASA to investigate a

process for extracting fusion energy from an advanced

fuel power source directly into thrust.

“The goal of NSTX is to find

a way to do fusion much better.

Magnetic fusion is complex. I hope

the spherical torus will give us a

scientific basis to do fusion less

expensively and more compactly.”

—Martin Peng

Mostly, though, Peng spends his time on the new

fusion project at PPPL. “The goal of NSTX is to find a way

to do fusion much better. Magnetic fusion is complex. I

hope the spherical torus will give us a scientific basis to do

fusion less expensively and more compactly,” said Peng.

“We are very fortunate to have NSTX, and are just

beginning our work.” ●
Page 9 PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999

Pollution Prevention Day is a Hit!

On April 22, nearly 300 students, teachers, and children of PPPL

staff came to the Lab for this year’s Pollution Prevention Awareness

activities and Take Our Children to Work Day. The day featured

poster contest displays and awards, science demonstrations, talks,

and — for the offspring of staff here for Take Our Children to Work

Day — hands-on experience in various areas of the Lab. Clockwise

from middle left, at Pollution Prevention Awareness Day, PPPL’s

Erik Perry discusses the construction of NSTX in the MBG Auditorium; first place poster contest winner Caitlin Movsch, a student at

Orchard Hill Elementary School, poses with her winning entry;

Matt Kriebel of the Franklin Institute demonstrates electricity to

the youngsters; and students discover turbulence while blowing

bubbles with the flowing bubble apparatus as PPPL’s Diane Carroll

(toward rear) watches. On April 17, PPPL participated in another

Earth Day activity outside the Laboratory by operating a tabletop

display at the Mercer County Improvement Authority Earth Day

celebration at Quakerbridge Mall. PPPL’s Margaret King (left)

discusses the Laboratory’s pollution prevention activities with a

visitor.

— Photos by Elle Starkman
PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999 Page 10

Preston Talk Concludes PPPL Series

Princeton author Richard Preston captivated a standing room only crowd at

PPPL with his discussion about “The Shadow

of Biological Weapons” on March 20 during

the Lab’s final talk for the 1999 Science on

Saturday lecture series.

“Biological weapons are more powerful

pound for pound than a hydrogen bomb,” said

Preston, citing anthrax, the Black Death, and

smallpox as examples of such weapons.

Preston is a journalist and the author of the

best selling nonfiction book, The Hot Zone, a

true story about an outbreak of the Ebola virus

near Washington, D.C. The author’s newest

release, The Cobra Event (Random House —

November 1997), a thriller about biological

weapons and terrorism, is also on the bestseller

lists. Preston spent three years researching

Cobra, and his sources include top government officials and scientists who invented and

tested strategic bioweapons.

Science on Saturday is a series of eight free lectures

geared toward high school students, but open to everyone.

The lectures are given by scientists and other professionals who are leaders in their fields. This year’s series was

organized by PPPL’s Norton Bretz, Janardhan Manickam,

and Chris Ritter. ●

PPPL Hosts Regional Science Bowl®

On February 27, PPPL hosted

the New Jersey Regional Competition of the National Science Bowl® in which twentyone high school teams from

New Jersey and Pennsylvania

competed. Montgomery High

School, Team A, won first place

in the double-elimination tournament. From left are Montgomery Team A members Brian

Wong and Kathy Scott, PPPL

Science Bowl Coordinator

James Morgan, team members

Chris Conlon and Bing Luke,

U.S. Representative Rush Holt,

team coach Ray Olschewski,

and team member Brice

Daniels. Holt, who represents

New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, served as a guest

moderator during the final

round. The U.S. Department

of Energy sponsors the regional

competition.
Page 11 PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999

The U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Laboratories house world-class facilities where

more than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting-edge research spanning DOE’s science,

energy, national security, and environmental quality missions.

Interested in the latest achievements of the National Laboratories? Then visit the DOE Pulse at:

http://www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/.

DOE Pulse is distributed twice each month. Each issue includes research highlights, updates on

collaborations among laboratories, and profiles of individual researchers.

The Kaul Foundation recently gave $60,000 to PPPL

to supplement the endowment for the Lab’s “Prize

for Excellence in Plasma Physics and Technology Development.”

PPPL Receives Additional

$60,000 from the Kaul Foundation

“We are hopeful that this

enhancement grant will support

recognition of the scientists

dedicated to fusion energy

research at Princeton.”

—James Kaul

In a February 4 letter to PPPL Director Rob Goldston,

James Kaul, Chairman of the Kaul Foundation’s Board of

Trustees, said, “It gives me great pleasure to advise you

that the Board of Trustees of The Kaul Foundation has

resolved to honor the Plasma Physics Laboratory of

Princeton University with an enhancement grant...We are

hopeful that this enhancement grant will support recognition of the scientists dedicated to fusion energy research

at Princeton.”

James Kaul is the son of Ralph Kaul, a Florida

businessman who created the foundation in 1986 to

encourage and reward excellence of national significance

in scientific, public health and safety, literary, fine arts,

and educational endeavors.

Prize Awarded Annually

In 1993, the Kaul Foundation gave Ronald C.

Davidson, then director of PPPL, its 1993 Award for

Excellence in science, education and physics. The award

was accompanied by a $100,000 check, of which Davidson

turned over $40,000 to Princeton University to endow a

“Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and

Technology Development.” This prize is awarded annually to a scientist or engineer at PPPL for outstanding

technical achievement.

Goldston said of the recent supplement, “It is a great

honor for us to be recognized by the Kaul Foundation.

This year’s prize was awarded to experimentalist Dr.

Raffi Nazikian and theorist Dr. Guo-Yong Fu for their

collaborative groundbreaking work in alpha-particle physics in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor. It is a real

pleasure to be able to reward such excellent scientific

work with special recognition, and we thank the Kaul

Foundation for providing this opportunity to us.” ●
PPPL NEWS • Spring/Summer 1999 Page 12

PPPL’s booth at Communiversity in Princeton on April 24 drew

hundreds of people of all ages. Above, from left (behind the table),

are Hutch Neilson, Steve and Annette Iverson, and Tony DeMeo.

During PPPL’s annual Blood Drive, Joe Winston, at right, donates

blood. At bottom left, John DeLooper (left) discusses fusion with a

visitor at the Fourth Annual Renewable Energy Exhibition in Washington, D.C., on April 21, which drew an estimated 3,000 people. At

bottom right, Ray Camp (right) and Victor Garzotto present a

cryogenics demonstration to students at Bear Tavern School in

Hopewell on March 19.

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