FPN03-43

FESAC to Review Inertial Fusion Energy Prospects

July 27, 2003

The U.S. Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) has been asked to "provide an assessment of the present status" of inertial fusion for energy applications (IFE). In a letter to FESAC chair Richard Hazeltine, DOE Office of Science director Ray Orbach said he was requesting the review "in response to the considerable scientific and technical progress in the Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) program during the past few years."

Orbach said "the specific topics to be addressed in this review are:

"1. The current status of the scientific basis and related technology of each of the approaches to IFE, including an assessment of the quality of work being carried out in the programs.

"2. Critical scientific issues identified in each of the approaches to IFE that would contribute to understanding the long-range potential of IFE.

"3. The impact that fast ignition as a concept improvement program may have on IFE.

"4. The potential contribution of the various IFE program elements to the emerging field of High Energy Density Physics."

Orbach said "the IFE approaches to be considered in this review are those involving heavy ion beam drivers, laser drivers and the "Z" approach." He asked to receive a final report by early 2004.

The letter is posted at http://www.ofes.fusion.doe.gov/More_HTML/FESAC_Charges_Reports.html