FPN08-34

FESAC starts HEDLP/IFES Study

July 7, 2008

After a 3-month delay, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) has begun a study to "identify the compelling scientific opportunities" and "the scientific issues" in the fields of High Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP) and Inertial Fusion Energy Sciences (IFES) in response to a March 6 joint charge letter from DOE Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach and DOE Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Thomas D'Agostino. The charge letter asks FESAC for a response by October 2008 but, due to the delay in getting started, it is expected that the report may be delayed by several months (possibly to December).

The panel will be chaired by Riccardo Betti (U. Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics). The panel has established an interactive web site at http://fsc.lle.rochester.edu/hedlp/hedlp.php

The web site provides the charge letter, describes the panel's plan for addressing the charge and provides instructions on providing input to the panel. All input to the panel will be posted on the web site. The panel plans to hold a public meeting August 25-27 in the Washington DC area.

The panel members are:

R. Betti (UR), Chair
F. Beg (UCSD)
R. Davidson (PPPL)
R. Drake (U. Michigan)
R. Falcone (UC Berkeley)
D. Hammer (Cornell U.)
M. Knudsen (Sandia Labs)
G. Logan (LBNL)
D. Meyerhofer (UR)
B. Montgomery (LANL)
W. Mori (UCLA)
M. Murnane (U. Colorado)
R. Petrasso (MIT)
B. Remeington (LLNL)
D. Ryutov (LLNL)
R. Siemon (U. Nevada, Reno)
J. Sethian (NRL)