# Presentation: 048358

## OFES Perspective

**Stephen Eckstrand, Acting**
**Associate Director of Science**
**  ****for Fusion Energy Sciences**
**301-903-4941**

**Presentation to FESAC****January 13, 2009**

## Outline

**Solicitation Status**
**OFES Status**
**NSTX Upgrade Project**
**ITER Update**
**Strategic Planning Activities**
**Strategic Plan Overview**

## OFES Solicitation Status and Schedule

| OFES-NNSA Joint Solicitation in HEDLP | 45 Lab Proposals / 84 University ProposalsFunding Decisions Expected in May
S. Barish |
| --- | --- |
| NSTX Diagnostics Collaborations | 11 Proposals Received
Funding Decisions Expected by January 26
S. Eckstrand |
| NSF/DOE Partnership | 144 Proposals Received
Under Review
M. Crisp |
| Fusion Simulation Program | 1 Proposal Received
Under ReviewJ. Mandrekas |
| Plasma Science Centers
 | 7 Full Proposals Invited
Full Proposal Due 01/30/2009M. Crisp |
| Innovative Confinement Concepts  | Solicitation Postponed Until FY 2010
S. Barish |
| Theory / Computing | Next Solicitation Planned for FY 2010
C. Bolton |

## OFES Status

**Gene Nardella has completed his term as acting Associate Director (and has done a very good job)**
**Steve Eckstrand has been named the next acting Associate Director**
**The Committee of Visitors has been postponed until after the June ReNeW.**
**There has been a delay in bringing an IPA on board to assist with strategic planning in the plasma science area**

## National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) Upgrade

**OFES is working on CD-0 (Approve Mission Need) for the proposed upgrades of NSTX**
- New center stack magnet assembly that will double the magnetic field
- A second neutral beam (NB) line that will double the available NB power for heating and current drive
**The upgrades are aimed at maintaining NSTX as a world leader in research on the spherical torus concept**
**The proposed scope, funding and schedule for the upgrades must be better defined before proceeding to CD-1 (Approve Alternative Selection and Cost Range)**

## ITER Update

**The ITER Council met in Cadarache during November 19-20, 2008.  The principal topics and outcomes included**:
- Interim Report from the Cost Review (aka Briscoe) Panel - No conclusions on cost yet; made recommendations to the IO for work to lay the foundation for a credible estimate
- Enhanced project integration between the ITER Organization (IO) and Domestic Agencies – Established three pilot Integrated Product Teams (First Wall & Shield, Electric Power Systems, and Vacuum Vessel)
- Test Blanket Module (TBM) Program - Established a TBM Program under the framework of the ITER Agreement and tasked a TBM Program Committee to work out details and advise the Council on Program execution  [U.S. has _not_ yet committed to participate in the design and fabrication of TBMs]

## ITER Update (2)

**Since cost is the main issue, the Council set a goal for the IO to deliver a baseline proposal by November 2009, and it asked the Briscoe Panel to reconvene and review progress before the June 2009 Council meeting.  The Council also advised the IO to continue work on completing integrated system designs as soon as possible**
**One of the major design changes emerging from the 2007 ITER Design Review was the addition of magnet coils to control Edge Localized Mode instabilities and ensure vertical stability of the plasma.  The U.S. (PPPL) has the lead in performing the conceptual design and cost estimate for this coil set.  There is no decision yet on which ITER Member will actually build these coils**

## ITER Physics and Technology R&D

**The U.S. community continues to be an effective contributor to ITER physics issues **
**Annual Planning meeting of ITPA, IO, and IEA with international tokamak leaders held at MIT in December**
- ITER Physics issues discussed and joint experiments  are being planned; need for coordination of modeling work discussed
- Resolution of some physics issues need technology development; IO and the DAs are in the process of identifying  resource support for such development needs
**IO is in the process of resuming work on ITER Research Plan – needs support from Members**
- USIPO, USBPO, and OFES are in the process of identifying liaison to the IO - IRP Working Group

## Strategic Planning Activities

**Work on the June ReNeW workshop is proceeding well (R. Hazeltine)**
**A workshop on HEDLP is being planned for August 2009**
**A workshop on fission/fusion hybrids is being planned for the fall of 2009**

## Strategic Plan Overview

**I. Overview Section**
**The Role of Fusion Energy in the Long Range U.S. Energy Strategy**
**A Brief History of Fusion Energy Research**
**The Role of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences in Advancing Plasma and Fusion Energy Science**
**	****Describes current program including ITER**

## Strategic Plan Overview (2)

**II. Plan for a World-Leading Fusion Program**
**The FES program has two overarching strategic goals**
**Develop the knowledge needed to create a sustainable fusion energy source**
**Pursue scientific opportunities and grand challenges in plasma science, including high energy density plasma science, to better understand our universe and to enhance national security and economic competitiveness**
**With the initiation of the ITER project and the imminent completion of NIF, plasma science is at the threshold of new discoveries that will transform the field**
**It is an opportune time for the FES program to tackle a wide range of scientific and technical challenges to the development of practical fusion energy, including fusion materials science and fusion engineering sciences**
**Broadening and reinforcing the domestic FES research programs will position the U.S. to make world-leading contributions to the global effort to realize fusion energy**

## Strategic Plan Overview (3)

**Strategic Goal 1: Towards a Sustainable Fusion Energy Source**
**OFES’s strategy for a world-leading domestic fusion energy science program is organized around a set of five Magnetic Fusion Research Themes and several possible “parallel track” efforts to accelerate scientific progress in these areas**
**Contributing to the success of ITER and studying burning plasmas is the highest priority and is the first of the five Magnetic Fusion Research Themes**
**ITER alone will not resolve all of the issues that must be addressed on the path to a demonstration fusion power plant.  In its 2007 and 2008 reports, FESAC identified the knowledge gaps that ITER will not address but that must be closed in order to acquire the knowledge needed for a demonstration fusion power plant**

## Strategic Plan Overview (4)

**Achieving Strategic Goal 1**
**Opportunities to address these gaps exist and need not await the results of ITER. Broadening the U.S. program to pursue a “parallel-track” approach is necessary to speed up the timetable for developing fusion energy and ensure that the U.S. continues to have a world-leading fusion program.**
**These knowledge gaps have been grouped into an additional four remaining Magnetic Fusion Research Themes.  The five themes are:**
**Understanding the burning plasma state in ITER**
**Creating predictable, high performance, steady-state plasmas**
**Improving the magnetic configuration**
**Solving the plasma-material interface challenges**
**Developing the engineering sciences that enable fusion power**
**Themes 2-5 defined in Greenwald and TAP reports**

## Strategic Plan Overview (5)

**Theme 1—Understanding the burning plasma state in ITER**
**To ensure ITER’s success and maximize the benefit of U.S. participation in the project, the U.S. will continue to take a leadership role in resolving outstanding scientific issues facing the project.**
**To be well prepared to use ITER effectively, continuing research to improve our predictive capability for burning plasmas is needed.**
**The U.S. will consider collaborating in the test blanket module programs of other ITER parties**
**Engineering and management excellence are clearly critical to the success of ITER; the U.S. has been a leader among the ITER Members in organizing its domestic preparations for construction and in promoting innovative solutions to ITER’s unique management challenges**
**Preparations for ITER operation include maintaining a world-class workforce through continued funding for training of graduate students and post doctoral scientists**

## Strategic Plan Overview (6)

**Achieving Strategic Goal 1 (continued)**
**OFES will explore a range of additional research activities to promote the burning plasma campaign on ITER (Theme 1) and to attack the broader set of issues identified by FESAC (Themes 2 through 5).  Possible research campaigns include:**
**Predictive fusion plasma simulation**
**Integrated advanced burning plasma physics demonstration**
**Integrated exploration of plasma-wall interactions and plasma facing components**
**Advanced research on stable, steady-state concepts**
**Engineering and materials physics modeling and experimental validation**
**Materials development and qualification**
**Fusion engineering science**
**OFES will carry out workshops to evaluate these activities to assess what facilities are required to carry them out**
**OFES will also explore opportunities for international collaborations**

## Strategic Plan Overview (7)

**Strategic Goal 2: Plasma Science**
**OFES is the primary federal steward of the related fields of plasma physics and high energy density laboratory plasmas and is responsible for advancing fundamental understanding of the properties of these unique states of matter**
**OFES will support research programs in the fundamental properties of plasmas, plasma confinement in external fields, inertial fusion energy sciences, non-mission-driven high-energy density plasma science, and low-temperature plasma science and engineering; by spanning the full breadth of plasma research, OFES is well-positioned to promote strong linkages between basic plasma science and fusion energy research**
**The plan includes three research themes to advance plasma science:**
**Increasing fundamental understanding of basic plasma science, including low temperature plasma science and engineering**
**Understanding the underlying properties of magnetized plasmas**
**Advancing the fundamental science of high energy density plasmas by leveraging DOE investments in major facilities**

## Strategic Plan Overview (8)

**Achieving Strategic Goal 2**
**Research Theme 1--Increasing fundamental understanding of basic plasma science, including low temperature plasma science and engineering**
**OFES will determine the high impact areas of basic plasma science and underlying disciplines, such as atomic physics, and will engage the research communities in these areas through openly competed solicitations (joint with other agencies as appropriate)**
**Research Theme 2--Understanding the underlying properties of magnetized plasmas**
**OFES will support research the fundamental properties of plasmas in magnetic fields to increase our understanding of how the magnetic fields affect plasma behavior;  OFES will determine, through openly competed solicitations, what innovative facilities to build and what research projects to undertake**

## Strategic Plan Overview (9)

**Achieving Strategic Goal 2 (continued)**
**Research Theme 3. Advancing the fundamental science of high energy density plasmas by leveraging DOE investments in major facilities**
**OFES has developed a joint program with NNSA in the area of HEDLP;  OFES and NNSA will issue joint solicitations and use competitive peer review to select research projects to advance our knowledge and modeling capabilities in HEDLP science, including heavy ion beams, warm dense matter, laboratory astrophysics, compressible and radiative hydrodynamics, laser-plasma interaction and high energy density plasma**