Vol. 10, No. 2 • SUMMER 2006

PPPL's Johnson Leads U.S. ITER Diagnostics Team

PPPL Staff to the Rescue

PPPL’s Dave Johnson has been named the U.S. ITER Diagnostics Team Leader. In this newly created 

position, he manages the design and procurement of the 

diagnostic devices supplied to ITER by the U.S. team.

ITER is a joint international research and development project that aims to demonstrate the scientific and 

technical feasibility of fusion power. The ITER partners 

are the U.S., the European Union, Japan, China, India, 

South Korea, and the Russian Federation. ITER will be 

constructed in Cadarache, France.

Johnson had been the U.S. ITER Diagnostics Area 

Coordinator and the U.S. Delegate to the Diagnostics 

Working Group. U.S. ITER Project Office Head Ned 

Sauthoff said, “We are very pleased to have such a skilled 

Continued on page 2

person as Dave within our system 

of partner laboratories: Dave is a 

world-class authority in the design of diagnostics instruments, 

effective in the management and 

implementation of such systems, 

and experienced in the complex 

multi-cultural environment of 

ITER.”

As Team Leader, his first responsibility was to pull together 

the cost estimates for the ITER 

diagnostics. In addition, he has 

been involved in international working groups considering how to procure diagnostic devices and shield plugs 

that provide the devices with access to the plasma and 

also provide a radiation shield for the surrounding areas. 

Diagnostic devices measure plasma characteristics in 

experiments. ITER will employ a myriad of these devices.

Two years ago, Johnson began serving as U.S. Delegate to the Diagnostics Working Group, charged with 

designing diagnostic procurement packages and proposing 

a plan for allocating diagnostics to the ITER parties. The 

feasibility of repackaging the diagnostics came up then. At 

the time of the ITER final design review five years ago, 

the procurement of the diagnostic systems was separate 

from that of the shield plugs. The international diagnostics 

group recognized that an important part of the diagnostic 

systems includes how the systems fit into the shielding 

plugs. “One can’t design port plugs without knowing or 

designing the diagnostics that fit into these plugs,” said 

Johnson. The working group suggested repackaging designs so the diagnostics and their related plugs would be 

developed together to ensure compatibility.

“We looked at how to repackage and then divide the 

diagnostics,” Johnson said. Now the party responsible 

for a particular diagnostic is also responsible for its corresponding port plug.

“The U.S. is allocated 16 percent of the total diagnostics responsibility for ITER — a significant role 

Photo by Rob Sheneman

Dave Johnson

PPPL Emergencency Services Captain Dave Neuman (front) and 

PPPL's Darren Thompson respond to a tractor-trailor accident on 

U.S. Route 1 in May, which closed off traffic on the major roadway for 

several hours. (SEE STORY AND MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 3.)
PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006 Page 

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 pppl_info@pppl.gov .

PPPL NEWS

Information Services Head: Anthony R. DeMeo

Editor/Writer: Patti Wieser

Photographer: Elle Starkman

Layout and Graphics: Gregory J. Czechowicz 

and Patti Wieser

ITER

Continued from page 1

in diagnostics. We have the second largest role next to 

Europe’s,” said Johnson. The U.S. portion includes six 

instrumentation packages and five port plugs. There are 

generally between two and six diagnostics in each plug.

With a career devoted to diagnostics, Johnson seems 

well prepared for the tasks ahead. “I’ve always really 

enjoyed developing new measurements,” he said.

Since 1997, he has served as Division Head responsible 

for diagnostic development in support of PPPL experimental activities in fusion facilities at PPPL and around 

the world. Johnson has managed diagnostic development 

On May 9, the first of three vacuum vessel parts for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment 

(NCSX) rolled into PPPL. Covered with a protective 

cloth, the metal hunk — weighing more than 6,000 

pounds and filled with holes that made it resemble 

a silvery twist of Swiss cheese — arrived on a flatbed.

Major Tool and Machine, Inc., of Indianapolis, 

manufactured the vessel segment, with its three largest 

diagnostic ports installed.Twenty-four additional port 

extensions will be installed at PPPL. Ports provide 

access for plasma heating and diagnostic devices. 

The vacuum vessel segment is made of Inconel 625, 

an alloy with high electrical resistivity to suppress 

electrical currents that could interfere with plasma 

confinement.

The next two segments will be delivered this summer. During final assembly in the NCSX Test Cell, 

the three segments will be welded together to make a 

25,000-pound chamber that looks like a hollow French 

cruller with only three twists. The completed vessel 

will have a total of 84 ports.

Stellarator Vacuum Vessel Segment Arrives

NCSX is under construction as the centerpiece of 

the U.S. effort to develop the physics and determine the 

attractiveness of the compact stellarator as the basis for 

a fusion power reactor. NCSX is being built at PPPL in 

partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The 

experiment is scheduled to begin operations in 2009. l

for the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at 

PPPL, typically implementing several new diagnostics 

each year, many in collaboration with researchers from 

other institutions. He has led the planning for diagnostics 

for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX), 

which is being constructed at PPPL. Over the years, he 

also has participated in the collaborative development 

of diagnostics for experiments in the U.S., as well as in 

Japan, Korea, and England, and has been heavily involved 

with the development of ITER diagnostics.

Johnson praised the cooperative spirit of the international group. “I’m encouraged by our participation 

with the other parties. It has been very collaborative,” he said. l

Staff, using a crane and rigging, place the vacuum vessel segment 

in the NSCX Coil Winding Facility.
Page  PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006

When PPPL’s Mike Viola and Erik Perry arrived, they found a modular office on its side, basically 

intact. The cab of the tractor-trailor hauling the modular 

unit had jumped the median and was face-down on the 

southbound side of Route 1 just off Forrestal Campus. “I 

talked to the truck driver, who was shaken, but unhurt,” 

recalled Viola.

Viola and Perry were among PPPL staff who responded 

to the May 18 accident, which happened shortly after lunch. 

Laboratory personnel from the Engineering Department, 

Environmental Services, and Materiel Services groups 

assisted PPPL’s Emergency Services Unit (ESU), New 

Jersey State Police, the Plainsboro Township Police and 

Fire Departments, and the Middlesex County Hazardous 

Materials Unit in responding to the single-vehicle accident. 

The driver had reportedly lost control of the vehicle when 

another vehicle was passing. No one was injured and no 

other vehicles were affected.

The trailer and modular unit blocked the entire northPPPL Staff Respond to Major Route 1 Accident

Photo by Dietmar Krause

Photo by Elle Starkman

bound lane in front of the Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro 

and closed off traffic in both 

directions for several hours. 

The tractor straddled the road 

divider with its ruptured fuel 

tank hanging into the southbound lane, leaking about 275 

gallons of diesel fuel onto the 

roadway. The PPPL Hazmat 

team swung into action to assist with the containment and 

cleanup of the fuel spill.

“The first priority was 

to control the hazard of the 

spilled diesel fuel,” said ESU Captain Dave Neuman, who 

along with ESU’s Darren Thompson and Sean Donohue 

joined PPPL’s Hazmat team to control and clean up the 

spill. “The second was to safely move the office trailer 

and get the roadway opened.”

The ESU team used a Holmatro power wedge to 

pry the trailer up enough to allow forklift forks under 

the modular unit. “I was impressed with the way all the 

agencies involved worked together and I was proud to 

be part of the Lab’s effort. Once it was determined there 

were no injuries, we prioritized what needed to be done,” 

Neuman said.

The PPPL Tech Shop rigging crew used a 15-ton 

forklift to gently pry the unit up to allow cribbing to be 

placed. Then slings were pushed under it and PPPL’s 35-

ton Grove crane lifted the unit up and to the side of the 

road. The PPPL group had decided to use the crane when 

Viola learned the gross load weight was 26,000 pounds. 

The crane load indicator showed that the modular unit 

actually weighed only 16,000 pounds. Viola had used 

calculations for the slings and positioned them to spread 

the load. “We had 50 feet of sling on each of the two 

basket configurations,” he said. The lift was safely and 

successfully executed and U.S. Route 1 reopened before 

rush hour. Neuman said, “To have a major accident on 

an artery like the Route 1 corridor controlled, cleaned up, 

and reopened to traffic for the evening rush hour was a 

great accomplishment and a credit to all involved.” 

In an e-mail, Perry lauded those involved, “Your 

skills and ability to handle the situation safely and efficiently were praised by the local police, fire departments, 

the Middlesex County Hazmat unit, the Mercer County 

Emergency Operations Center, and especially the New 

Jersey Department of Transportation.” l
PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006 Page 

PPPL Develops Internet-Based Simulation Capabilities

By Anthony R. DeMeo

Two years ago Raffi Nazikian, Deputy Head of PPPL’s Off-site Research Department, worried about traffic 

jams. He wasn’t concerned about the kind of bottlenecks 

that develop along Route 1, but about roadblocks to 

the accessibility of plasma simulation tools by fusion 

researchers. He observed that the users of these computer codes were nearly always the software’s developers 

themselves.

“If the developers of Microsoft Word were the only 

folks who knew how to use it, there might be no more than 

100 people in the world running Word. You would have to 

be a software engineer,” said Nazikian. He expressed his 

concern to Doug McCune of PPPL’s Computational Plasma 

Physics Group (CPPG). This interaction, and subsequent 

efforts of the CPPG and Ernie Valeo of PPPL’s Theory 

Department, led to an unprecedented improvement in accessibility and the use of plasma codes on the horizon.

Currently, if researchers want to use a plasma simulation code such as TRANSP, they seek the assistance of 

a computational specialist with the detailed knowledge 

required to access and run the program. But the code 

experts are often overloaded with demand, resulting in 

a huge backlog. “So we ration the applications of these 

tools, resulting in major bottlenecks in the interpretation 

and understanding of experimental data and the planning 

for future experiments,” said Nazikian.

It’s not surprising that Nazikian and his associates, 

who share the world’s fusion facilities and software remotely, would be the first to realize this problem. “On a 

small scale, we are dealing with the very same issues that 

the broader fusion community will face on ITER. A large 

number of scientists around the world will work remotely 

on this one facility, conducting a relatively small number 

of experiments. To do this efficiently, they’re going to 

have to design experiments in excruciating detail before 

they run them. Consequently, ITER researchers will have 

to simulate these experiments thoroughly beforehand, so 

they’re going to need easy access and use of simulation 

codes,” Nazikian explained.

Now, innovative work by McCune and fellow computational scientist Eliot Feibush may solve this problem 

well in advance of ITER by providing plasma physicists 

with web-based access to powerful computer codes.

“Plasma physics has a lot of immensely complicated 

codes that are labor intensive to move around to different labs. There is considerable engineering cost to get 

these humongous programs to run correctly on different, 

incompatible computers. It would be great if folks who 

are not at PPPL could use our simulation programs via 

the web, and if we could access their software, without us 

all having to download and install the large codes on our 

individual computers,” noted McCune. Physicists who are 

not code developers would interact with shorter, simpler 

web-based interfaces that communicate with computer 

servers at various laboratories.

To this end Eliot Feibush is working on a web-based 

graphical user interface for the simulation of reflectometer 

measurements in plasmas. These simulations run codes 

developed by PPPL’s Gerrit Kramer and Ernie Valeo. 

PPPL researchers and their collaborators worldwide build 

and install reflectometers as diagnostic tools that measure 

plasma turbulence. The reflectometer sends a radio-frequency wave field into the plasma, which is reflected at 

a specific location. The interference pattern that comes 

back to the reflectometer is indicative of the turbulence 

at that location.

Graphical Interface

Feibush’s graphical interface allows users to access 

and input real experimental data, including various plasma 

parameters such as electron density and temperature and 

magnetic field strength into their simulations, yielding 

realistic results. Physicists will be able to test specific 

reflectometer designs before the devices are built, saving time and money. Web access will enable effective 

collaboration in reflectometry by permitting colleagues 

at other labs to use the advanced simulation capability 

developed and hosted at PPPL. Users always will have 

the latest version of the software at their disposal, with 

no worries about compatibility.

The graphical user interface program under development at PPPL is Java-based. Programs written in this 

language can run on either PCs or Macs, eliminating the 

need for distinct versions of software for each platform, 

such as required for Fortran, C++, and other compiled 

languages. Furthermore, Java has built-in graphical and 

user interface components, such as buttons and sliders. 

It was designed for the Internet and currently is used 

extensively for selling merchandise on the web.

But scientific applications are much more complicated 

than accessing an on-line catalog to buy a pair of shoes 

or clothing. Feibush said, “After setting up the input parameters and starting a run, the interface software monitors a simulation that performs much more computation 

than typical commerce programs. Visualizations of the 

results enable the physicists to evaluate the effectiveness 
Page  PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006

of simulated reflectometers. The challenge is 

to develop quality scientific graphics applications in Java that work over the web with 

existing physics codes.”

As a result of Feibush’s work, PPPL 

will soon unveil to the fusion community a 

robust web-browser-based user interface for 

the reflectometer code that comes packaged 

with sophisticated graphics capability. The 

interface will allow physicists to run simulations of complex, sophisticated experiments 

effectively without having to learn about 

the underlying code’s file structures, subroutines, directories, platforms, and naming 

conventions. “We are now trying to come up 

with a standard for duplicating this interface 

tool for any plasma simulation code. We 

have an idea of how this is going to translate 

generically to make other codes available 

to the broad user community. I think this is 

the beginning of a major sea change in our 

way of thinking about computational tools 

in the fusion community and how we use 

them,” said Nazikian. l

Above is a graphic depicting a cross-section of a DIII-D plasma at General Atomics in San Diego. This graphic was 

created using a reflectometer code developed by Ernie Valeo and uses actual experimental data processed by the 

TRANSP code. The colors indicate the distance radio-frequency waves of various frequencies will penetrate into the 

plasma before they are reflected. The color code (right) indicates that higher frequency waves will penetrate further 

into the plasma. The graphic at left shows the simulated reflection of a 52-GHz wave within the DIII-D plasma.

 PPPL scientists Eliot Feibush (left) and Doug McCune.
PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006 Page 

What's Happening at PPPL?

DOE Office of Science Director Ray 

Orbach (at right) discussed the American 

Competitiveness Initiative and the Advanced Energy Initiative, in which fusion 

plays a role, during an 

“all hands” meeting in 

PPPL’s Auditorium on 

April 25. Orbach and 

DOE Secretary Samuel 

Bodman were principal 

PPPL hosted the New Jersey Regional Competition of the National 

Middle School Science Bowl® on April 1. Seven teams participated in 

the Jeopardy!-like tournament, which included two portions — a model 

hydrogen fuel-cell car competition and a fast-paced academic questionand-answer contest covering earth, physical, life, and general sciences, 

and math. Joyce Kilmer Elementary School won first place in the event 

sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Above, a middle school 

student participates in the model hydrogen fuel-cell car competition. 

PPPL also hosted a regional competition in February for high school 

students from New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

On April 29, PPPL participated in Communiversity, a town-gown community arts festival in downtown Princeton that drew several thousand people. 

PPPL physicist Robert Budny discusses fusion at the PPPL exhibit.

Photo by Alexandra Budny

architects of the American Competitiveness Initiative. The 

initiative lays out a plan for the doubling of funding to 

the DOE Office of Science over the next decade, starting 

with a substantial increase next year. This plan makes it 

possible for the U.S. to participate in the construction of 

ITER and also to have a robust program of domestic fusion 

research. Prior to addressing PPPL staff and collaborators at the meeting, Orbach toured the National Compact 

Stellarator Experiment Coil Winding Facility. l

Rutgers University Genetics Professor Jody Hey delivers a talk, “The Evolution of Species: Insights from Fish, Chimpanzees and Humans,” at PPPL as 

part of the Lab's 2006 Science-on-Saturday lecture series this winter.
Page  PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006

Grad Students at PPPL Receive Accolades

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/.

Princeton University graduate student Prateek Sharma is the recipient of the 2006 Ray Grimm Memorial Prize 

in Computational Physics. The award recognizes Sharma 

for his “outstanding research achievements, academic 

merit, and creativity.”

He was awarded the Grimm graduate fellowship “in 

recognition of his novel numerical methods for simulating the dynamics of low-density astrophysical plasmas, 

and on the basis of strong letters of recommendation.” He 

works on numerical simulations of collisionless accretion 

flows around black holes.

The prize honors an advanced student in computational physics and includes an award of $5,000. It was 

established in 1985 in memory of Ray Grimm, a talented 

and popular scientist and teacher.

Sharma is receiving a Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences, 

program in plasma physics, this summer. Upon graduation, Sharma is joining the Astronomy Department at 

the University of California, Berkeley, as a postdoctoral P research fellow. l PPL graduate student Steffi Diem received the Thomas 

H. Stix ’54 Plasma Physics Prize last spring as a 

second-year graduate student in Princeton University’s 

Program in Plasma Physics. She is the third recipient; 

Prateek Sharma won in 2003 and Wei Liu won in 2004. 

Diem used the $2,000 prize for travel expenses to visit the 

Culham Science Centre in the U.K. outside Oxford.

Presently, Diem is working on the National Spherical 

Torus Experiment at PPPL with physicists Gary Taylor 

and Cynthia Phillips. She came to Princeton University 

to pursue graduate studies in plasma physics after receiving a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the 

University of Wisconsin in Madison in 2004.

Stix, who died in 2001, was the founder and longtime 

director of graduate studies for the University’s Program in 

Plasma Physics and a leader in the development of plasma 

physics. In 2002, a fund was created in his memory to 

establish a prize for first and second-year graduate students 

studying plasma-related topics. The prize would enable 

international travel for conferences or research. l
PPPL NEWS • Summer 2006 Page 

Works of Artsy PPPL’ers Exhibited at University

At the reception for the opening of this year’s Art of Science exhibition at 

Princeton University are, from left, PPPL’s Andrew Post-Zwicker, Michael 

Burin, and Elle Starkman, whose works are included. 

The work of four PPPL artists and a “sculpture” from the Lab made it into Princeton University’s second annual 

“Art of Science” exhibition at the Friend Center.

The juried show, highlighted by three winning student entries, features prints, videos, poetry, paintings, and sculptures 

— 55 works in all — produced in the course of scientific or 

technical research by faculty, staff and students in more than 

a dozen different departments. Works by PPPL’s Michael 

Burin, Charles Skinner, Elle Starkman, and Andrew PostZwicker are included. Last year, Starkman and Post-Zwicker 

took first place for their joint entry, “Plasma Table.”

“It was a pleasant surprise to win last year, especially 

since it was the first competition. I didn’t expect to win 

again this year, but I was happy that two of my collaborative entries were selected for the exhibition,” said Starkman, 

PPPL’s photographer.

The exhibited works were selected from more than 150 

submissions. One of the most unusual pieces in the exhibit 

— a solicited work that was not entered into the competition 

— is a 3-ton “sculpture” that was found in a scrap heap at 

PPPL. The sculpture is a prototype of a winding form for an 

electromagnetic coil for the National Compact Stellarator 

Experiment (NCSX), an experimental fusion device being 

built at the Lab. Exhibition organizers noted that the shape 

of the winding form is a kind of mirror image to a sculpture 

by the famous artist Henry Moore near West College on the 

Princeton campus.

“When I saw it at the scrap yard over at PPPL it seemed 

to serendipitously reflect upon the University’s Henry Moore 

sculpture, ‘Oval with Points,’ so I thought it would be perfect 

for the Art of Science show,” said Andrew Moore, a photographer and filmmaker who is a lecturer in the Program in 

Visual Arts and one of the exhibition’s 

organizers. “It fits with the whole theme 

of the exhibit — that science has this 

incredible aesthetic component to it.”

Moore spotted it outside the TFTR 

Building while touring PPPL with 

Post-Zwicker. Post-Zwicker was instrumental in getting the piece to main 

campus, where it is at an entrance to 

the Friend Center. “It was a beautiful 

thing to see on campus.The sculpture 

Andrew Post-Zwicker poses next to the PPPL sculpture outside the Friend 

Center.

The pieces by PPPL staff in the 

show are: above left, Fjord Wake 

by Michael J. Burin; at right, 

Jumpstart by Elle Starkman and Andrew Post-Zwicker; below left, Interior 

Vacuum Vessel, NSTX, by Elle Starkman and Charles Skinner.

shows the wonderful aesthetics of one of our technological 

achievements,” said Post-Zwicker.

The exhibition opened May 10 and is expected to be on 

display from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays for a year. A virtual 

gallery, which includes captions describing the work of the 

researchers who created the images, is available online at 

http://www.princeton.edu/artofscience/. l