The November 17 meeting of the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory
Committee provided a good overview of the current status and future
plans of the Department of Energy's fusion program. The committee,
chaired by Richard Hazeltine, was briefed by N. Anne Davies,
Associate Director for Fusion Energy Sciences, during the first
morning session of this two-day meeting.
Davies began by reviewing the FY 2004 budget for the Fusion Energy
Sciences program. The final appropriations bill provided $6.8
million more than originally requested, which Davies said was greatly
needed. She commented that the fusion programs of the National
Nuclear Security Administration, such as that at the University of
Rochester and the National Ignition Facility, were "reasonably
well
treated." "All of this is very, very good news for the fusion
program," Davies stated. Facility operations should increase from
the current 13 or 14 weeks to approximately 21 weeks a year. ITER
transitional arrangements will commence, as well as a continuation of
a modest effort on the FIRE program. Ongoing experiments will
continue.
"It was an electric moment," Davies told the committee, referring
to the release of DOE's "Facilities for the Future of Science:
A Twenty- Year Outlook." She quoted Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's
November 10 address to the National Press Club that "if we reach
agreement, ITER will be our top facility." The plan identified
28 facilities; with ITER selected as "Priority 1." The plan's
second priority is UltraScale Scientific Computing Capacity, which Davies
said is instrumental to the success of the fusion program. ITER is described
on page 14 of this report at www.sc.doe.gov/Sub/Facilities_for_future/facilities_future.htm
Davies briefly reviewed the NRC Burning Plasma Assessment Committee's
report, "Burning Plasma: Bringing a Star to Earth." A preliminary
version of this report was released in September for online viewing;
the National Academies site at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10816.html
has information on the forthcoming printed copy. Davies reviewed five
of the report's major conclusions: "Burning plasma experiment needed
to advance fusion science - join ITER but reassess and moved ahead if
ITER fails"; "Cannot be done with flat budgets, augmentation
is required"; "Program should focus on realistic opportunities";
"Community should identify and prioritize program elements needed
for a balanced program within the context of a program that includes
ITER"; and "ITER should be fully integrated into US Fusion
Energy Sciences Program," which Davies noted was "not an easy
thing to do." She stated that the NRC committee's interim report
last year was a "key element" in the US decision to rejoin
the ITER negotiations. Later in the meeting, FESAC members were briefed
by the chairman of the NRC assessment committee, John Ahearne.
Two years of ITER negotiations to develop an international agreement
have now reached a "high-level" decision-making process. Site,
personnel and cost sharing agreements should be determined this year,
with a legal agreement in the first six months of 2004, Davies said.
Other topics discussed by Davies included performance measures,
proposal review, a Fusion Science Center initiative, the National
Compact Stellarator Experiment, the Fusion Simulation Project, a
spring 2004 materials workshop, High Energy Density Physics, and a
possible statement of work for the NRC study.
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