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Lawmakers focus on MIT fusion research

Three Congressmen visited the Plasma Science and Fusion Center last week.
U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (right) observes data collected by graduate student Cornwall Lau as PSFC Director Miklos Porkolab explains the importance of student contributions to fusion research.
Caption:
U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (right) observes data collected by graduate student Cornwall Lau as PSFC Director Miklos Porkolab explains the importance of student contributions to fusion research.
Credits:
Photo: Paul Rivenberg

Three members of Congress visited the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) last week to learn more about fusion research, and to understand the importance of MIT’s Alcator C-Mod tokamak to the national and world fusion effort.

On Wednesday, Jan. 30, U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) received separate tours of the C-Mod control room and cell, guided by PSFC Director Miklos Porkolab, Associate Director Martin Greenwald and Alcator Project Head Earl Marmar. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) toured the lab on Friday, Feb. 1.

Kennedy, Tierney and Udall learned about fusion energy and the current status of the Alcator Project, which would cease operation under the Department of Energy’s Presidential 2013 budget guidance. They discussed fusion’s potential importance to national security, its value to the economy and its advantages as a green technology.

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