page_title: Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment
hierarchical_section_title: Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment
caption_attribution_description: Cross section of the SSPX Spheromak, operational since 1999. SSPX is the latest of the experiments in magnetic fusion energy research at Lawrence Livermore National Labs.
context_page_description: The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment is a program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States established to investigate spheromak plasma.
  A spheromak device produces a plasma in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium mainly through self-induced plasma currents, as opposed to a tokamak device which depends on large externally generated magnetic fields. The series of experiments examines the potential for a spheromak device to contain fusion fuel. According to a 1999 abstract,
  The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment, SSPX, will study spheromak physics with particular attention to energy confinement and magnetic fluctuations in a spheromak sustained by electrostatic helicity injection.
context_section_description: The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) is a program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States established to investigate spheromak plasma.
  A spheromak device produces a plasma in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium mainly through self-induced plasma currents, as opposed to a tokamak device which depends on large externally generated magnetic fields. The series of experiments examines the potential for a spheromak device to contain fusion fuel. According to a 1999 abstract,
  The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment, SSPX , will study spheromak physics with particular attention to energy confinement  and magnetic fluctuations in a spheromak sustained by electrostatic helicity injection.
caption: Cross section of the SSPX vacuum vessel