On June 3, a flatbed truck journeyed from Newark Liberty International Airport to Princeton, New Jersey, and around 8:30 a.m. trundled through the front gates of the U.S. Department ofEnergy Link is external’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). On its bed was a piece of machinery that could influence the course of energy innovation in the United States — the central magnet bundle for the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U), a compact fusion Link is external system designed to be the most powerful of its kind in the world.

This was the final leg of its journey that began at ElyttEnergy Link is external, a manufacturing company in Bilbao, Spain, specializing in the fabrication of powerful magnets for large scientific facilities, and included being shipped in a cargo plane across the Atlantic Ocean.

“This is truly a momentous occasion,” said Dave Micheletti, PPPL’s associate laboratory director for engineering and NSTX-U project director.

“This is truly a momentous occasion,” said Dave Micheletti, PPPL’s associate laboratory director for engineering and NSTX-U project director. “Now our full focus is on finishing machine reassembly and bringing this device to the world.”