In a February 20 letter to FESAC chair Stewart Prager (U. Wisconsin), DOE Under Secretary Raymond Orbach requests FESAC, by October 1, "to critically evaluate the status of, and scientific opportunities for, major alternate magnetic configurations." He states, "The concepts that have attracted the most attention, and are the focus of this charge, are the stellarator, spherical torus, reversed field pinch, and compact tori (spheromak and field-reversed configuration). The panel to perform this task for FESAC is in process of being formed.

A second charge is given to FESAC in a March 6 letter (jointly signed by Orbach and NNSA Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Thomas D'Agostino) requesting that FESAC "work with the HEDLP (High Energy Density Laboratory Plasma) community to provide information that will inform a scientific roadmap for the joint (OFES-NNSA) HEDLP program in the next decade or so."The FESAC is requested, by October, to "identify the compelling scientific opportunities for research in fundamental HEDLP that could be investigated using existing and planned facilities in support of the OFES and NNSA/DP missions; and identify the scientific issues of implosion and target design that need to be addressed to make the case for inertial fusion energy as a potential future energy source." The panel to perform this task for FESAC is in process of formation.