If, as Taylor believes, rotation can help to plug the leaks, much smaller magnetic fields will be required. Smaller magnetic fields mean a cheaper machine. What is remarkable about Taylor, says Steven Cowley, a UCLA physicist who has made vital contributions to putting the electric tokamak on a strong theoretical footing, is that he finds ways to build things for nothing. He s a sort of green thumbed guy in experimental areas. An example of Taylor s innovative thinking is the magnets with which he is working.
Most tokamaks use copper, an expensive metal that is difficult to form and weld.
Taylor makes his magnets, which do not have to be as powerful as in other machines, out of aluminum. Though aluminum does not conduct electricity as well as copper, it conducts it well enough and provides a key to creating an economical tokamak. Taylor has built a prototype of the electric tokamak in the basement of Boelter Hall. Construction of the full scaled machine awaits completion of the Science and Technology Research Building on UCLA s west campus and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. This machine, Taylor insists, has the potential to take it all the way.