“We need technologies today that will rapidly develop and test materials to support the commercialization of fusion energy,” said Zachary Hartwig, head of LMNT and an associate professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. “LMNT’s mission includes discovery science but seeks to go further, ultimately helping select the materials that will be used to build fusion power plants in the coming years.”
LMNT’s location on MIT’s main campus also will give students the opportunity to lead research projects and help manage facility operations, providing a platform for educating and training students in fusion technology.
Cyclotron advantage: To drive research into the damage materials undergo in fusion environments, LMNT will be built around a cost-effective, off-the-shelf cyclotron. According to MIT, the intense proton beams of the cyclotron offer the advantage of speed, rapidly damaging dozens of material samples at once and allowing researchers to test them in days rather than years.
LMNT will surround its cyclotron with four experimental areas dedicated to materials science research. The lab is taking shape inside the large, shielded concrete vault at PSFC that once housed the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, which operated from 1992 to 2016.
By repurposing C-Mod’s former space, the center is skipping the need for extensive, costly new construction and accelerating the research timeline significantly, MIT said. The design, construction, and operation of LMNT is being overseen by veteran PSFC staff.
The PSFC expects to receive the cyclotron by the end of 2025, with experimental operations starting in early 2026.
Quotes: “LMNT is the start of a new era of fusion research at MIT, one where we seek to tackle the most complex fusion technology challenges on timescales commensurate with the urgency of the problem we face: the energy transition,” said Nuno Loureiro, director of the PSFC, a professor of nuclear science and engineering, and the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics.
“What’s exciting about this project is that it aligns the resources we have today—substantial research infrastructure, off-the-shelf technologies, and MIT expertise—to address the key resource we lack in tackling climate change: time,” said Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee Professor in Engineering and a mission director of MIT’s Climate Project.
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