6. Test Reactor for Tokamak Fusion
Location: United States, New Jersey
Total Expense: $2.5 Billion
Completed Year: 1989
A contraption right out of a science fiction film is the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor. In 1980, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory built an experimental tokamak. Its main goal was to assist humanity in reaching the scientific breakeven point, which is the moment at which the heat generated by fusion reactions within a heated plasma equals the heat received from the outside.
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (Wikimedia Commons)
Despite spending around $2.5 billion, the building was never able to meet its objectives. However, it accomplished another feat: it was the first magnetic fusion device in history to generate 10 MW of fusion electricity. After serving for fifteen years, the tokamak was buried.
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