The Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Program
“This is a great day for science.” - DOE Secretary Hazel R. O’Leary
As widely reported, the Department of Energy’s Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory was successful in producing over three million watts of controlled fusion power on December 9. This success comes at a critical time, as the Department of Energy’s budget request for FY 1995 is nearing completion.
Published reports have stated that DOE is trying to prevent deep cuts in its FY 1995 request. DOE’s current budget is $19.6 billion; it is thought that its “internal” request to the Office of Management and Budget is in the $18 billion range. There is speculation that OMB wanted to reduce this request by $1 billion. Indications are that Secretary O’Leary may have been successful in getting OMB to agree to a reduction in the $300-$500 million range, following a meeting with the president.
O’Leary’s reaction to the Princeton development was probably aimed as much at the administration and Congress as it was the public. She said, “It’s also a great day for those who worry about the economy and the safe production of power. It’s a tremendous breakthrough and it matches so conveniently the themes of our administration.”
Princeton’s success will also be significant on Capitol Hill. As late as November 22, the House rejected the Penny-Kasich Deficit Reduction Plan which included a 20% reduction in fusion energy research and development, or a $375 million cut over five years. The House rejected this plan by a vote of 219-213; fusion funding was not a major factor in the vote (see FYI #153.)
Congress has been supportive of the fusion energy program. The DOE request for the current year of $347,595,000 was fully funded. In the accompanying report, Congress instructed DOE to give the Princeton research at the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, site of the December 9 record, “highest priority” in this year’s fusion energy program. This reactor will be decommissioned in the fall of 1994, replaced by a long pulse, advanced device, the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX). Current year funding for TPX is $20,000,000 for design work (see FYI #145.)
TPX research will be applied towards the development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, now being designed by the U.S., the European Community, Japan and the Russian Federation. The projected cost of ITER is $7-$10 billion, to be shared by the participants.
The outlook for the U.S. fusion program is mixed. In early November, Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-Louisiana), a key figure in fusion funding, strongly criticized the administration’s management of the program. Johnston wants the administration and Congress to make firm commitments to fusion, obviously to avoid another SSC-type outcome (see FYI #148.) The DOE fiscal year 1995 budget request, to be released on February 7, will indicate in dollars-and-cents the administration’s response to Johnston and the success earlier this month at Princeton.
