FPN07-09

FESAC Gets New Charges

February 8, 2007

DOE Under Secretary for Science, Ray Orbach, has given his Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) two new charges. In a February 7 letter to FESAC chair Stewart Prager (U. Wisconsin), Orbach asks FESAC to "(1) identify and prioritize the broad scientific and technical questions to be answered prior to a DEMO; (2) assess available means (inventory), including all existing and planned facilities around the world, as well as theory and modeling, to address these questions; and (3) identify research gaps and how they may be addressed through new facility concepts, theory and modeling." In a second charge, Orbach asks FESAC "to develop a long-term strategic plan" that will "include a specific pathway to DEMO within the context of the broader Office of Science Strategic Plan, as well as other program elements needed in a comprehensive strategic plan for fusion research." Orbach asks that the report on the first charge be completed by October 1 of this year.

These charges replace a charge given last year "to provide recommendations on how the US fusion program should evolve over the coming decade."

FESAC will discuss these charges at its forthcoming March 1-2 public meeting in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The letter to FESAC is posted in its entirety at http://fire.pppl.gov