From Tokamaks to Stellarators — 50 Years of Fusion & the Physics of Confinement - Dr. Donald Spong
About this episode
Dr. Donald Spong discusses the evolution of magnetic confinement fusion and the advancements in stellarator design.
Dr. Donald Spong of Oak Ridge National Laboratory joins Priyanca Ford for a sweeping look at magnetic confinement fusion — from the early tokamak era and the birth of ITER to the modern renaissance in optimized stellarators. He shares how the Simons-funded Hidden Symmetries project transformed stellarator design, why burning-plasma physics remains the field’s final frontier, and how AI and reduced models are accelerating reactor design.
People in this episode
Host: Priyanca Ford
Guest: Dr. Donald Spong
Topics covered
- magnetic confinement fusion
- tokamaks
- stellarators
- burning-plasma physics
- AI in reactor design
- fusion energy
- ITER project
Keywords
- fusion
- tokamak
- stellarator
- burning-plasma
- AI
- reactor design
- ITER
- Hidden Symmetries
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ITER, Simons-funded Hidden Symmetries project
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- Fifty Years & the Next Generation — Confinement, Collaboration & Fusion’s Workforce Dr. Guido Van Oost
- Designing for Safety — Risk, Reliability & the New Golden Age of Nuclear - Dr. Curtis Smith
- Magnets, Helium-3 & the Moon Dr. Bob Weggel, Dr. Carl Weggel & Dr. Gerald Kulcinski
- Plasma Meets the Wall — Disruptions, Materials & Simulating Fusion’s Extremes Dr. Ahmed Hassanein
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