The DOE Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Task Force on Fusion Energy will launch its long anticipated review (FPN98-38 and FPN98-39) on March 29-30 in Washington, DC. The meeting will be open to the public. The agenda, which is not yet finalized, is expected to include overview presentations on magnetic and inertial confinement fusion by DOE program managers and selected magnetic and inertial confinement fusion program managers from DOE contractor institutions.

The Terms of Reference for the review (FPN98-39) asks the Task Force to "analyze and provide recommendations on the role of each of these technologies (magnetic and inertial) as part of a national fusion energy research program." The Terms state that the analysis "should address whether the current and planned resources within the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences budget are appropriately balanced among the concepts to provide the scientific basis for an informed selection of the best option for development as a fusion energy source." The Terms state that the Task Force "should specifically take into account the relationship to international fusion energy programs, the connection of inertial fusion energy research to the stockpile stewardship activities in Defense Programs, and the broader science and educational goals that may be enabled by these fusion technologies."

Dr. Richard A. Meserve, Partner, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, a member of SEAB and of the National Research Council Energy Board, will chair the Task Force. Dr. Steven E. Koonin, Provost, California Institute of Technology, will be Vice Chair. Koonin has chaired National Academy panels to review inertial confinement fusion in the past and was a recipient of Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award in 1994.

Eight members of an anticipated twelve member Task Force have been named so far. In addition to Meserve and Koonin, they are:

• Ed Frieman, Director-emeritus, Scripps Institute of Oceanograpy, and former Deputy Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

• Hermann Grunder, Director, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory, who chaired a panel to review ITER for the DOE Fusion Energy Advisory Committee in 1997. He was a recipient of Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award in 1998.

• Ira Bernstein, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, Yale University, a pioneer fusion theoretical physicist.

• Robert Hanfling, Senior Advisor, Putnam, Hayes and Bartlett, Washington, DC, a member of SEAB.

• Stewart Prager, Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin, a prominent fusion researcher.

• Allen Sessoms, President, Queens College, CCNY, Flushing, NY, a member of SEAB.

As indicated in a previous Fusion Program Note (FPN98-38) the review was precipitated by language contained in a Senate Appropriations Committee report (FPN98-17). The Senate report "recommends that the Department, prior to committing to any future magnetic fusion program or facilities, conduct a broader review to determine which fusion technology or technologies the U.S. should pursue to achieve ignition and/or a fusion energy device."