DOE awards University PPPL contract

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Jan. 15 that Princeton University has been awarded a five-year management and operating contract to continue managing the DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory . The contract runs from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2014, with a 60-day transition period beginning this month, and with a provision that permits the University to earn up to five additional years of management of the lab. "We are very pleased that the Department of Energy has selected Princeton University to continue to manage the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory," Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman said. "We are proud of the lab's accomplishments in the past, and we look forward to even greater accomplishments in the future. For many reasons it is more important than ever that we continue to make progress toward developing fusion as a safe, clean and sustainable source of energy." Princeton has managed the plasma physics lab for more than 57 years. "I'm delighted that DOE has continued to entrust PPPL's management to Princeton," said A.J. Stewart Smith, Princeton's dean for research, who managed Princeton's contract submission and has oversight of the lab.