http://usfusionandplasmas.org

The covering letter to DOE from FESAC chair Don Rej, as well as the original charge to FESAC (and the final report) can also be found here:

https://science.osti.gov/fes/fesac/Reports

The report's Executive Summary states:

"The strategic plan is developed through a series of recommendations, not in priority order, on needed programs and experimental facilities:

• A fusion pilot plant design effort should begin immediately to develop cost-attractive fusion solutions on the fastest time scale possible.

• The fusion pilot plant goal requires increased investment in research and development of fusion materials and other critical technology. Emphasis is needed on fusion materials science, plasma-facing components, tritium-breeding blanket technology and the tritium fuel cycle. Several key experimental facilities are recommended. The Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source (FPNS) will provide unique material irradiation capabilities, and the Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) and high-heat-flux testing experiments will enable solutions for the plasma-facing materials. Blanket research and the associated Blanket Component Test Facility (BCTF) will provide the scientific understanding and basis to qualify fusion power system blankets for an FPP.

• The successful tokamak plasma confinement concept must be advanced to meet the stringent requirements of a fusion pilot plant. A sustained burning plasma at high power density is required simultaneously with a solution to the power exhaust challenge of mitigating the extreme heat fluxes to materials surrounding the plasma. US partnership in ITER provides access to a high-gain reactor-scale burning fusion plasma, and an accompanying US ITER research team and program to exploit that facility must be developed. Present tokamak experiments in the US and abroad can address key issues in the near term, and new opportunities in the private sector should be leveraged and supported. Addressing the core/exhaust integration challenge requires a new tokamak facility, the EXhaust and Confinement Integration Tokamak Experiment (EXCITE).

• The plan embraces the development of innovative ideas that could lead to more commercially attractive fusion systems and address critical gaps. The quasisymmetric stellarator is the leading US approach to developing disruption-free, low-recirculating-power fusion configurations and should be tested experimentallywith a new US stellarator facility. Liquid-metal plasma-facing components have the potential to ameliorate some of the extreme challenges of the plasma-solid interface and may reveal new plasma operating regimes. Inertial fusion energyresearch can leverage significant investments in the US to establish new technologies and approaches to energy production. Private investment in alternative fusion plasma configurations has enabled breakthroughs that have potential as fusion energy sources. Strengthening those elements will provide both scientific opportunity and programmatic security.

• A sequence of mid- to large-scale facilities will establish a leadership role in frontier plasma science. To strengthen plasma foundations, the Matter in Extreme Conditions Upgrade (MEC-U) will provide a world-class user facility in high-energy-density science by co-locating a high-intensity (petawatt-class) laser and a long-pulse shock compression laser with the Linac Coherent Light Source free electron laser. Additionally, a multi-petawatt laser will push the frontier of laser intensity and reveal fundamental quantum electrodynamic processes of creating matter and plasma directly from light. To understand the plasma universe, a new Solar Wind facility will close key science gaps in plasma turbulence, connecting laboratory experiments with space and astrophysical observations; and a mid-scale Z-pinch facility will allow access to strongly magnetized high-energy-density matter relevant to astrophysics and fusion energy research. To create transformative technologies, a high-repetitionrate high-intensity laser system will dramatically increase the rate at which high-energy-density plasma experiments can be conducted, with the potential to significantly advance the development of plasma-based accelerators.

• A plasma-based technology research program will provide the scientific basis to enable the next generation of technological inventions. Plasmas can enable transformative technologies in manufacturing, microelectronics, biotechnology, medicine, and aerospace. Fulfilling this potential will require a dedicated, nimble research program able to take advantage of the translational nature of this research by connecting the basic science with the breadth of applications.

• Programs that support foundational plasma science research should be emphasized. Foundational science fosters creative exploration that sets new directions for the field, addresses fundamental questions of nature, and explores novel states of matter."