jet

In earth science, hard, black variety of lignite, a type of coal. It is cut and polished for use in jewellery and ornaments. Articles made of jet have been found in Bronze Age tombs.

JET

Research facility at Culham, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, that conducts experiments on nuclear fusion. Opened in 1984, it is the focus of the European effort to produce a safe and environmentally sound fusion-power reactor. On 9 November 1991, the JET tokamak, operating with a mixture of deuterium and tritium, produced a 1.7 megawatt pulse of power in an experiment that lasted two seconds. In 1997, isotopes of deuterium and tritium were fused to produce a record 21 megajoule of nuclear fusion power. JET has tested the first large-scale plant of the type needed to process and supply tritium in a future fusion power station.

On 1 January 2000, the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) took over the operation of the JET machine. Future work at JET will pave the way for a new European fusion reactor to be built at Cadarache in southern France and expected to begin operation in 2016.

jet

In astronomy, narrow luminous feature seen protruding from a star or galaxy and representing a rapid outflow of material. See active galaxy.