The National Research Council (NRC) will begin its "Assessment of the Fusion Energy Sciences Program (FPN99-17)" with a meeting scheduled for May 16-19 at the Hotel La Jolla, 7955 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA. The meeting will be partially open to the public.

The meeting will begin at 4 PM on Sunday, May 16 and last until 10 PM, all of which will be open to the public. The meeting will continue in open session on May 17 until 2:30 PM. At times there will be two parallel sessions. On the evening of May 17 there will be a reception and dinner, which the public may also sign up to attend. The sessions on May 18 - 19 will be closed to the public.

Anyone wishing to attend is expected to advise Ms. Grace Wang (gwang@nas.edu). Ms Wang can also answer questions regarding the meeting. Information can also be found on the web at //www.nas.edu/ and search for "Current Projects."

According to the NRC, the Project Scope is as follows: "The Fusion Science Assessment Committee will assess the scientific quality of the fusion program of the DOE's Office of Science. Criteria will include excellence, impact, role in education, and contribution to strengthening the scientific foundation for fusion. A science strategy for the program will provide a context for judgement and a direction for future development." The NRC says the Project Duration is 24 months.

The planned agenda is as follows:

May 16
4:00 - 5:00  Study Overview (Kennel) and DOE presentation (Willis)
5:00 - 6:00  Working Dinner
6:00 - 7:00  Overview of Theory and Computation (Nevins, LLNL)
7:00 - 8:00  Overview of Experiment (Mauel, Columbia)

Parallel Session I
8:00 - 9:00  Computational Models (Dorland, U. MD)
9:00 - 10:00 Contributions of Theory to Other Disciplines (Cowley,UCLA)

Parallel Session II
8:00 - 9:00  Experimental Tests of Neoclassical Theory (Zarnstorff,PPPL)
9:00 - 10:00 Basic Plasma Experiments (Surko, UCSD)

May 17 8 AM - 2:30 PM

Parallel Session I - Theory and Computation 
(Diamond, UCSD; Chen, UC Irvine; Tang, PPPL; Bhattacharjee, U. Iowa)

Parallel Session II - Experiment
(Taylor, GA; Sarff, U. Wisconsin; Meade, PPPL; Porkolab, MIT; Marmar, MIT)