Bryn Mawr College Researchers Taking On Nuclear Fusion

Bryn Mawr College physics researches are working towards a practical use for nuclear fusion energy by using new and unique methods to smash particles.

Assistant Professor of Physics David Schaffner and students Hayley Johnson, Codie Fiedler-Kawaguchi, and Emmeline Douglas-Mann – all class of 2018 – have been working with a team of researchers to develop particle colliding techniques that would make nuclear fusion even more viable as an energy source, according to Bryn Mawr College's website.

The website said the Bryn Mawr team and other researchers are trying to create a self-contained plasma bubble containing hydrogen isotopes which would then be pushed through a chamber using a fast pulse of current through a copper ring. The website compared the attempted action to squeezing a watermelon seed with fingers, causing the seed to shoot out.

Schaffner told the college's website that nuclear fission is a less-exact method than fusion, which requires extreme precision

“If fission is shooting an oil tanker with a sniper bullet, fusion is having two snipers facing each other a mile apart and having them fire and hoping the rounds hit each other,” Schaffner said on the website.

Read more on the Bryn Mawr research team's work at the college's website.

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