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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
Earl Marmar, head of the Alcator project, introduces Kennedy to MIT's tokamak, accompanied by David Belluck of Riverside Partners.
Caption:
Earl Marmar, head of the Alcator project, introduces Kennedy to MIT's tokamak, accompanied by David Belluck of Riverside Partners.
Credits:
Photo: Paul Rivenberg
PSFC Associate Director Martin Greenwald shows U.S. Rep. John Tierney where plasma is formed inside the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, while Principal Research Scientist Amanda Hubbard looks on.
Caption:
PSFC Associate Director Martin Greenwald shows U.S. Rep. John Tierney where plasma is formed inside the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, while Principal Research Scientist Amanda Hubbard looks on.
Credits:
Photo: Paul Rivenberg
Tierney (left) discusses fusion research atop the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, with Project Head Earl Marmar and PSFC Director Miklos Porkolab.
Caption:
Tierney (left) discusses fusion research atop the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, with Project Head Earl Marmar and PSFC Director Miklos Porkolab.
Credits:
Photo: Paul Rivenberg
Nuclear Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Anne White discusses her collaboration with researchers from U.S. Sen. Tom Udall's home state of New Mexico.
Caption:
Nuclear Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Anne White discusses her collaboration with researchers from U.S. Sen. Tom Udall's home state of New Mexico.

Credits:
Photo: Paul Rivenberg
Udall gets a birds-eye view of the Alcator C-Mod cell from atop the tokamak, with project head Earl Marmar.
Caption:
Udall gets a birds-eye view of the Alcator C-Mod cell from atop the tokamak, with project head Earl Marmar.
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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