Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment

Image:Spheromak LLNL.gif

The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) is a program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States established to investigate spheromak plasma.[http://www.mfescience.org/sspx/ Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment - SSPX] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718062812/http://www.mfescience.org/sspx/ |date=2011-07-18 }} MFEScience. 2008-03-27.

A spheromak device produces a plasma in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium mainly through self-induced plasma currents, as opposed to a tokamak device which depends on large externally generated magnetic fields.[http://www.llnl.gov/str/Hill.html Experiment mimics nature's way with plasmas] LLNL. 2008-03-27. The series of experiments examines the potential for a spheromak device to contain fusion fuel. According to a 1999 abstract,

:The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment, SSPX , will study spheromak physics with particular attention to energy confinement and magnetic fluctuations in a spheromak sustained by electrostatic helicity injection.[http://www.iaea.org/programmes/ripc/physics/html/node227.htm (ICP/04) Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121141555/http://www.iaea.org/programmes/ripc/physics/html/node227.htm |date=2008-11-21 }} IAEA. 2008-03-27.