The MIT Alcator C-Mod is one of three major tokamaks in the U.S. It has higher magnetic field and consequently contains higher density plasma than other tokamaks. It is currently studying issues such as high-Z walls and high performance divertors important for ITER and beyond. Unlike most tokamaks that use neutral beams for heating the plasma, Alcator C-Mod relies on the more elegant technologies of lower hybrid and ion cyclotron resonance radiofrequency power to both heat and to study current drive in the plasma. Graduate students are key, integral members of the scientific team. Currently 33 full time students are doing their Ph.D. research on C-MOD. Fusion development being a long, hard task, the training of new, young researchers is viewed as an essential element to the eventual success of fusion as an energy source. Additional information on C-Mod can be found at http://www.psfc.mit.edu/research/alcator/pubs/Cmod_PAC_2010.html and at http://fire.pppl.gov/fpa09_cmod_marmar.pdf

Among the several "alternate concepts" (to the tokamak), one of the most innovative is the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX), a joint project between MIT and Columbia University and located at MIT. The experiment has a levitated internal ring that creates a magnetic dipole field similar to that of the Earth. The experiment is used to study both magnetospheric physics of the Earth and other planets, but also fundamental plasma physics that could one day lead to fusion using so-called "advanced fuels." The experiment only recently came into operation but has already achieved one of its principal goals: the formation of a peaked density profile due to the formation of a low frequency turbulent pinch, in accordance with theory. Such peaking has been seen in space but, until now, has not been reproduced in the laboratory. The results have just been published in the January 24 online edition of Nature Physics. For further information contact Mike Mauel, mauel@columbia.edu or Jay Kesner, kesner@psfc.mit.edu

MIT scientists are also contributing to the field of inertial confinement fusion, collaborating with scientists at the University of Rochester, LLNL, General Atomics and others. Recently, the group demonstrated the use of charged particles to probe inertial fusion implosions on the Omega laser facility at the University of Rochester. Conventionally, diagnosing such implosions has relied on techniques utilizing x-rays, ultraviolet or visible light, and fusion neutrons. The new technique allows new details on what is happening inside the dense core of the imploding target. For further information, contact C. K. Li, ckli@mit.edu or Rich Petrasso, petrasso@psfc.mit.edu