Power yard

Nuclear fusion testing at MIT relies on powerful magnetic fields and temperatures in the millions of degrees. That requires huge bursts of power, on the order of megawatts for a few seconds. Since the test fusion reactor is in the middle of Cambridge, it can't draw that much power directly from the grid without affecting its neighbors, so it has an alternator which stores power like a flywheel to deliver the power, said Matt Reinke, nuclear science and engineering student, during a tour.