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Using a Toy Train To Calibrate a Reactor

Posted by samzenpus on from the little-engine-that-could-measure-minute-amounts dept.

alfredos writes "Physicists and engineers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory built tracks inside a fusion reactor and ran a toy train for three days to help them with their calibrations. From the article: 'The modified model of a diesel train engine was carrying a small chunk of californium-252, a radioactive element that spews neutrons as it falls apart. “We needed to refine the calibration technique to make sure we are measuring our neutrons as accurately as possible,” said Masa Ono, the project head of the National Spherical Torus Experiment.'"

2 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Spherical Torus? by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 3, Informative

    NSTX produces a plasma that is shaped like a sphere with a hole through its center (a "cored apple" profile, see Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak), different from the "donut" (toroidal) shaped plasmas of conventional tokamaks.

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  2. Link to the original article at the lab by cruff · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.pppl.gov/PPPLnews101.cfm