Fusion Power Associates 2 Professional Drive, Suite 249 Gaithersburg, MD 20879 phone: (301) 258-0545 fax: (301) 975-9869 e-mail: FusionPwrAssoc@aol.com web: http://fusionpower.org

"The Committee recognizes the significant progress that the fusion energy research community has made over the past fifteen years in understanding the plasma science that will underlie a future fusion reactor. The Committee finds that while the Department is already pursuing the critical next steps in plasma science of carrying out experimental research to control and examine the dynamics of a burning fusion plasma, a stronger focus should be concurrently placed on developing the enabling technologies required to practically harness fusion power for reliable baseload electricity. As such, the ITER international fusion project is a necessary but insufficient step on the road to commercial fusion power. The Committee encourages the Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences Program (FES) to closely collaborate with BES, ASCR, the Office of Nuclear Energy, and NNSA, under the direction of the Under Secretary for Science, to address mutual needs for technology development in magnetic fusion, inertial fusion, and next generation fission reactor concepts. One focus area of these collaborations should be on identifying, characterizing, and developing new materials that can endure the intense neutron and heat fluxes expected in these reactor environments. The Committee expects the Department to consider these nuclear technology needs as it develops its prioritization plan, described in Section 607(c). This plan is expected to follow the example of the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel’s P5 report, referenced above, in providing clear priorities in magnetic fusion research and technology development, including facility construction and decommissioning, under four realistic budget scenarios. These scenarios need not mirror the four scenarios that the P5 report considered (i.e. FY10 + inflation, FY09 + inflation, budget doubling from FY07 appropriated level by FY17, and additional funding above that level), as the Committee recognizes that the construction of ITER may continue to fluctuate and distort total FES funding over the next 10 years. Two scenarios that the Department should consider analyzing include: (1) flat funding at FY10 levels for the non-ITER portion of the FES budget; and (2) a path which doubles total funding for FES from the FY07 appropriated level before FY20.

The Committee commends the Secretary for requesting a major report from the National Academies which will lay the framework for a robust inertial fusion research and technology development program. However, the Committee believes that the Secretary need not wait for the recommendations of this report to begin an explicit, modest version of such a program, as several significant research areas have already been well-identified. These areas include new, potentially less expensive ways to achieve ignition, as well as the development of new technologies to increase beam repetition rates. While, as described above, cross-cutting research areas should be strongly considered by the Secretary in developing the magnetic fusion prioritization plan, the plan’s budget scenarios are not expected to take into account a potentially significant new inertial fusion program, which may not be housed within the Office of Science once it is ultimately established. Provided that the Department begins to publicly, explicitly support grant awards in inertial fusion research and technology development for energy applications on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, the Committee does not currently have a position on where within the Department this new program should primarily reside, or whether its activities should be distributed through several DOE subagencies."

The above guidance is contained within a 1000 page report accompanying H.R. 5116 and posted at: http://www.rules.house.gov/111/CommJurRpt/111_hr5116_rpt.pdf