FPN20-40
U.S. Fusion Pilot Plant Study Launched
June 17, 2020
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has asked the National Academies
(NAS) to conduct a "fast track" study on the development of a fusion
pilot plant. A previous NAS report on U.S. fusion strategy, completed in
late 2018, recommended "the United States should start a national
program of accompanying research and technology leading to the
construction of a compact pilot plant that produces electricity from
fusion at the lowest possible capital cost". DOE has not yet adopted
that recommendation.
The DOE issued the following announcement:
FES funds the National Academies to conduct a fast-track study on the
development of a pilot plant
June 15, 2020: The Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program of the Office of
Science is supporting the National Academies of Science, Engineering,
and Medicine (NASEM) to conduct a fast-track study focused on the
construction of a pilot plant in the United States that produces
electricity from fusion at the lowest possible capital cost (“Pilot
Plant”).
In the study, to be completed within eight months of project initiation,
the committee of experts assembled by NASEM shall provide a concise
report that addresses the following points:
- In developing and carrying out a plan for building a Pilot Plant, key
goals need to be established for all critical aspects of the Pilot
Plant. Identify those key goals, independent of confinement concept,
which a Pilot Plant must demonstrate during each of its anticipated
phases of operation.
- List the principal innovations needed for the private sector to
address, perhaps in concert with efforts by DOE, to meet the key goals
identified in the first bullet.
The NASEM study is complementary to the FESAC-led long-range strategic
planning for FES that is under way.
See https://science.osti.gov/-/media/fes/pdf/2020/NASEM_Award_Announcement_June_2020.pdf?la=en&hash=0B202ADC24CA0D6AD4CADE091BEFBAF8335B416C