Government renews funding for laboratory

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's future is looking increasingly strong after Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced Oct. 25 the government's intention to renew the lab's funding contract until 2006.

The $72-million federal funding contract represents a $9-million increase from the previous agreement. In recent years, the PPPL's funding and staff size have been on the decline.

The government is also providing $6 million to supplement the laboratory budget for dismantling the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, which was in operation from 1982 to 1997 and was able to produce a maximum of 10 megawatts of energy — the equivalent of 10,000 batteries.

The additional funds will allow the reactor to be fully dismantled by 2002, well ahead of schedule. The shorter timetable will make it possible for scientists to proceed with pressing research interests, PPPL officials said in a recent Times of Trenton article.

Celebration

Also last week, the laboratory celebrated staff member Zhihong Lin's selection as a recipient of the fifth-annual Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.

Lin joined the PPPL as a graduate student in 1990. He received a Ph.D. in plasma physics from the University in 1996, joining the PPPL research staff in 1997.

The Presidential Early Career Award, established in 1996, is the highest honor presented to young, independent researchers beginning their careers. This year's 59 recipients were presented with their awards at a White House ceremony.

Lin said his research goals are to advance the understanding of transportation in high-temperature, magnetically confined plasmas. The work, he said, will show the abilities of parallel computers in solving the problems of plasma physics research.