The Senate has endorsed the President's proposed fusion budget, which included drastic cuts in the domestic fusion effort, transferring that to growth in spending for the US contribution to ITER construction, within an overall fusion budget that is only slightly below that of FY 2012. The House, on the other hand, has flatly rejected the proposed cuts to the domestic fusion budget and also provided more funds for ITER than the President requested. The Senate bill provides $398 million for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, whereas the House bill provides almost $475 million.

Before becoming law, however, the full Senate and House must vote to approve the separate bills, the bills then must go to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences and then both House and Senate must pass the same bill and send it to the President for signature. It is by no means certain that this can occur before the November 2012 elections. Fiscal Year 2013 begins October 1 2012.

The report language accompanying the House and Senate markups for both the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (within DOE's Office of Science) and the Inertial Fusion Ignition and High Yield Campaign (within DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration weapons budget) are given below.

HOUSE:

FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES

The Fusion Energy Sciences program supports basic research and experimentation aiming to harness nuclear fusion for energy production. The Committee recommends $474,617,000 for fusion energy sciences, $72,440,000 above fiscal year 2012 and $76,293,000 above the request.

The domestic fusion program is a critical component of United States science leadership and a necessary building block of any successful fusion projects, including ITER. The recommendation includes $296,617,000 for the domestic fusion program, $560,000 below fiscal year 2012 and $48,293,000 above the request. The request proposes to shut down the Alcator C-Mod facility and provides only enough funding for decommissioning and existing graduate students. The Department is instead directed to continue operations at the Alcator C-Mod facility and to fund continued research, operations, and upgrades across the Office of Science's domestic fusion enterprise.

The recommendation includes $178,000,000 for the United States contribution to ITER, the international collaboration to construct the world's first self-sustaining experimental fusion reactor, $73,000,000 above fiscal year 2012 and $28,000,000 above the request. ITER is an important international collaboration that represents a major step forward in fusion energy science, but its funding requirements will create substantial budgetary challenges throughout the decade. The Committee appreciates that the Office of Science is grappling with these challenges but notes that the budget request does not propose a viable or well-planned solution. The Committee recommendation includes funding to continue the domestic fusion program at approximately the fiscal year 2012 level, and to increase ITER towards its planned funding level for fiscal year 2013. Looking forward, however, the increasing requirements for ITER will continue to pose challenges, and the Committee believes that long-term policy decisions for the Fusion Energy Sciences should be guided by impartial analysis of scientific needs and opportunities, and with an eye on American competitiveness and leadership. The Committee therefore reiterates the importance of the ten-year plan for Fusion Energy Sciences directed in the fiscal year 2012 appropriations conference report, of that plan's timely delivery, and of the inclusion of priorities across domestic and international fusion facilities, projects, and programs.

INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION AND HIGH YIELD CAMPAIGN

The Committee recommends $480,000,000, $3,726,000 above fiscal year 2012 and $20,000,000 above the budget request. Within these funds, $62,500,000 shall be for the OMEGA Laser Facility at the University of Rochester, $2,250,000 above the request.

As the first ignition campaign comes to a close in fiscal year 2012, it is a distinct possibility that the NNSA will not achieve ignition during these initial experiments. While achieving ignition was never scientifically assured, the considerable costs will not have been warranted if the only role the National Ignition Facility (NIF) serves is that of an expensive platform for routine high energy density physics experiments. The Committee continues to support the pursuit of ignition and urges the NNSA to develop a cost-effective strategy for future experimental activity as the next phase of scientific effort begins. The recommendation supports a lower, though still robust, level of experimental activity on the NIF in fiscal year 2013 given the completion of major diagnostic acquisitions and the shift in experimental tempo.

Further, the Committee supports the application of a fair and standardized overhead rate that fully adheres to proper cost accounting standards. In previous years, the NNSA allowed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to apply a reduced overhead rate for the operation of the NIF which artificially lowered the amount of funding needed within the ICF Campaign to conduct experimental activities, in violation of cost accounting standards. This practice misrepresented the full costs of these activities and shifted those costs onto other programs at the laboratory. While the ultimate programmatic impacts of the rate shift are still not clear, there is flexibility within the NNSA budget to partially mitigate those consequences as the overhead rate transitions back to a more appropriate level. Nevertheless, it is apparent that the NNSA did not properly take into account those impacts when developing its budget request and the Committee recommends $20,000,000 above the request to mitigate any unintended adverse impacts in fiscal year 2013. The Committee will continue to work with the NNSA to understand the implications of the transition to an appropriate overhead rate at the NIF and adjust resources as necessary so the facility may effectively execute its mission.

SENATE:

FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES

The Committee recommends $398,324,000 as requested for Fusion Energy Sciences. Within these funds, the Committee recommends $150,000,000 as requested for the U.S. contribution to ITER.

Similar to the Nuclear Physics program, the Committee is concerned by the lack of strategic direction for the fusion energy program. The Committee understands that the budget request provides a $45,000,000 increase to the U.S. ITER contribution but even with the increase, the U.S. contribution is still $50,000,000 short of the project plan.

The Committee also understands that the increase to the U.S. contribution came at the expense of the domestic fusion program. The Committee is concerned that additional cuts to the domestic fusion energy program may undermine U.S. advances in fusion and the U.S. ability to take advantage of scientific developments of the ITER project. The Office of Science believes that it can take advantage of international programs and facilities to build and maintain U.S. expertise in fusion energy sciences. However, a February 2012 Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee report cautioned that international facilities in Asia and Europe will not be operating for several more years and international collaborations cannot come at the expense of a domestic research program that can benefit from ITER.

The Committee directs the Office of Science to assess the impact to the domestic fusion energy sciences workforce and the ability of the United States to take advantage of ITER to advance fusion energy before recommending any further cuts to the domestic program. The Committee also directs the Office of Science to assess alternatives to participating in the ITER project, including reducing contributions to the project, and the impact of withdrawing from the project, if necessary, to maintain domestic capabilities. Further, the Committee directs the Office of Science to include a project data sheet with details of all project costs until the completion of the project for ITER in the fiscal year 2014 budget submission.

The Committee understands that DOE provides funding for ITER as a Major Item of Equipment rather than a line item construction project, which would be consistent with DOE Order 413.3B. However, the Committee feels that a multi-billion dollar project, especially of this scale and complexity, should be treated as a construction project and follow DOE Order 413.3B guidance.

INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION IGNITION AND HIGH YIELD CAMPAIGN

The Committee recommends $460,000,000 as requested. The Committee understands the importance of the National Ignition Facility [NIF] and supports NNSA's efforts to ensure the long term viability of the facility when the National Ignition Campaign ends. The Committee encourages NNSA to work closely with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to help manage the required full transition of the facility to the laboratory's standard cost accounting practices. The Committee directs NNSA, with congressional notification to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, to use up to $140,000,000 of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's internal additional direct purchasing power—generated by the overall lowering of the laboratory's 'Blended Rate' resulting from NIF's transition away from a Self Constructed Asset Pool indirect rate and reduced management fee—to increase the level of the laboratory's Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities funds dedicated to supporting NIF. The Committee recommends that NNSA move the NIF operating budget to the Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities budget line, which would be consistent with the facility's transition to regular operations and how other facilities are funded. The Committee also recommends that NNSA consider alternatives to operating the facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Also within the funds for inertial confinement fusion, at least $62,000,000 and $55,000,000 shall be used for inertial confinement fusion activities at the University of Rochester's Omega facility and Sandia National Laboratory's Z facility, respectively. The Committee also recommends at least $5,000,000 as requested for the Naval Research Laboratory to continue operating laser facilities focused on laser plasma interactions, target hydrodynamics, materials, and advanced ignition concepts.

The Committee remains concerned about NIF's ability to achieve ignition—the primary purpose of constructing the facility—by the end of fiscal year 2012 when the National Ignition Campaign ends and the facility is to transition to regular ignition operations and pursue broad scientific applications. The Committee directs NNSA to establish an independent advisory committee as soon as possible to help set a strategic direction for inertial confinement fusion and high-energy density physics research and determine how best to use current facilities to advance this scientific field. If NIF does not achieve ignition by the end of fiscal year 2012 using a cryogenically layered deuterium and tritium target that produces a neutron yield with a gain greater than 1, the Committee directs NNSA to submit a report by November 30, 2012 that (1) explains the scientific and technical barriers to achieving ignition; (2) the steps NNSA will take to achieve ignition with a revised schedule; and (3) the impact on the stockpile stewardship program.

To meet the complex and increased mission requirements of the Inertial Confinement Fusion and Science Campaigns at a period of constrained funding, the Committee urges the Department to continue its activities to ensure a multiple vendor base capable of cost-effectively developing and fabricating the full range of targets for inertial confinement fusion facilities that support the stockpile stewardship program.