"Not later than 12 months after enactment of this Act, the Department shall submit a ten-year strategic fusion plan to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The ten-year plan should assume U.S. participation in ITER and assess priorities for the domestic fusion program based on three funding scenarios with the fiscal year 2014 enacted level as the funding baseline: (I) modest growth, (2) budget growth based only on a cost-of-living-adjusted fiscal year 2014 budget, and (3) flat funding."
In a letter dated April 8, 2013, Acting Director Pat Dehmer asked the Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) to prepare a report "to address the following three scenarios with the FY 2014 appropriation for the (fusion) domestic program as the baseline ($305M)":
She also asked for a fourth scenario assuming a baseline of $266M for the fusion domestic program, as requested in the President's FY 2015 submission to Congress.
Dehmer constrained FESAC in how to structure the report by asking them "to assess priorities among continuing and potential new FES program investments within three program categories":
"You are to prioritize between the program elements defined for you by FES", she said. She asked for the report by October 1.
In response, FESAC is requesting "white papers" input from the fusion community via email: SPwhitepapers@burningplasma.org. All of the white papers received will be posted or linked for public viewing on the web site below:
https://www.burningplasma.org/activities/?article=2014%20FESAC%20Strategic%20Planning%20Panel
Copies of Dehmer's charge letter, a presentation on the charge by OFES director Ed Synakowski, a statement on the charge by FESAC chair Mark Koepke and a listing of the FESAC subpanel members who will prepare the report, which must be also reviewed and approved by the full FESAC before being submitted to DOE, are posted at http://fire.pppl.gov