More to Explore 193
Dr. Lyman Spitzer founded the Princeton University Plasma Physics Lab in 1948. He
soon realized that the only way to contain a fusion reaction was with a high-energy magnetic field. He surrounded a donut-shaped tube that contained hydrogen gas with coils of
wire to create a magnetic field that kept hydrogen atoms trapped while lasers heated them
many millions of degrees.
But there was a problem. When he looped thousands of loops of wire down through the
middle of the donut and up along the outside, it naturally packed the wires more densely on
the inside of the donut than on the outside. That created a stronger magnetic field on the inside (center) of the donut-shaped tube than on the outside. Hydrogen atoms were pushed to
the outside and flung at near light speed out of the tube. The fusion generator didn’t work.
Then Spitzer discovered a marvelous remedy. He twisted the donut containing his hydrogen gas into a figure eight. As hydrogen sped through this looping tube, it spent part of
each lap near the inside of the figure eight and part near the outside and so was kept from being pulled out of the tube by variations in the magnetic field
In 1951 Spitzer completed work on this first hydrogen plasma fusion generator. He
called it a stellarator—since it was like creating a star—and fired it for the first time for
only a small fraction of a second, still not sure that superheated hydrogen plasma wouldn’t
turn into a hydrogen bomb.
For one glorious half-second the donut-shaped mass of gas blazed supernova bright,
like a blinding sun burning at 70 million degrees Fahrenheit. Unimaginably bright and hot,
the gas became a two-foot diameter, seething, explosively powerful pool of hydrogen
plasma. Then it faded to dull purple, and, two seconds after it first ignited, turned back to
black.
For one flickering moment, Lyman Spitzer had created a new star—almost. More important, he had discovered that fusion was possible on Earth.
Fun Facts: As an alternative energy source, fusion has many advantages, including worldwide long-term availability of low-cost fuel, no
contribution to acid rain or greenhouse gas emissions, no possibility of a
runaway chain reaction, by-products that are unusable for weapons, and
minimum problems of waste disposal.
More to Explore
Fowler, T. The Fusion Quest. New York: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
Heiman, Robin. Fusion: The Search for Endless Energy. London: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Peat, F. Cold Fusion. New York: Contemporary Books, 1999.
Richardson, Hazel. How to Split the Atom. New York: Franklin Watts, 2001.