Fusion Energy Sciences
Perspectives & Plans
James W. Van Dam

Acting Associate Director
Office of Science
Fusion Energy Sciences

University Fusion Association Meeting
60th APS-DPP Annual Meeting
November 5, 2018

1

1. Budget Updates

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Robust FY 2018 and FY 2019 enacted budgets
Enacted FES appropriations for FY 2018 ($532M) and FY 2019 ($564M) enableaccelerated progress throughout the program:
 ITER: Continued progress on U.S. Contribution to ITER project with emphasis on
highest-priority First Plasma activities
 DIII-D: Initiated over $20M of enhancements and infrastructure improvements forthe DIII-D user facility to maintain and advance its world-leading research capabilities
 NTSX-U: Accelerate the Recovery efforts
 LaserNetUS: Established a U.S.-wide network of nine mid-scale laser facilities atuniversities and national laboratories to expand user access to high-power lasers
 MPEX Facility: Initiated the Materials Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) MIE
project as a new world-class high-heat-exposure facility for testing fusion materials
 Theory & Simulation: Accelerate progress in Whole-Device Modeling and Exascalereadiness; strengthen support for fusion-relevant Machine Learning applications
 Private-Public Partnerships: Planning underway to initiate high-impact public-private
partnerships as a pilot program to leverage opportunities in critical fusion researchareas and accelerate progress toward the development of fusion energy
 QIS: Start pilot efforts in Quantum Information Science that can advance both the
FES mission and also the development of QIS
3

DOE Website (August 2, 2018)

Budget Trends

FES program can address several
Administration R&D priorities and practices
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American Leadership in emerging technologies: FES investments intransformational technologies such as machine learning, quantum information
science (QIS), microelectronics, and high-performance computing could
accelerate progress in several mission areas.
American Energy Dominance: Research in fusion could contribute to Americanenergy dominance by making available to the American people a robust baseload electricity clean energy technology that relies on widely available andvirtually inexhaustible fuel sources.
Managing and Modernizing R&D Infrastructure: Investments in our major
fusion facilities and smaller-scale experiments would maintain and modernize
our research infrastructure for continuing to conduct world-leading research.
Maximizing Agency Coordination : Established partnerships within DOE (ASCR,
BES, NNSA) and outside (NSF) maximize leverage and increase the costeffectiveness of FES research activities.
Partnering with Industry: Private-public collaborations would leverage
opportunities in critical fusion research areas (e.g., diagnostics, theory andsimulation, materials science, and magnet technology).
Technology Transfer: Research on high-temperature superconductors, additive
manufacturing, low-temperature plasmas, and high-energy-density plasmas
lead to connections with and spinoffs for U.S. industry.
Workforce Training & Education: The scientific challenges and rigor of fusion
plasma physics research contribute to the development of a well-trained STEMfocused workforce, which would help maintain and advance U.S.
competitiveness and world-leadership in key areas of future technological andeconomic importance, as well as national security.

July 31, 2018 OMB memo on the FY 2020
Administration R&D priorities

Solicitation status
•

•
•

•

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A number of Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs)
and companion Lab Announcements have not been issued
yet due to changes in the SC FOA approval process
The past practice of issuing FOAs in the fiscal year before
the funding year may not be feasible
The Annual “open” SC FOA is always active; please checkwith your Program Manager about whether you should
consider submitting to this FOA, especially if the due date
for the submission of your renewal proposal is past or
rapidly approaching
You are also encouraged to check the SC and FES Funding
Opportunities pages for updates(https://science.energy.gov/fes/funding-opportunities/)

https://science.energy.gov/~/media/grants/pdf/foas/
2018/SC_FOA_0001820.pdf

2. Programmatic Updates

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FES research is carried out at
a diversity of US institutions
400

350

38

Spending $M

87

universities

11
industry11

laboratories

300

250

113

200

150

100

195

LCLS

50

NSTX-U0

FY 2018(not including
ITER)
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DIII-D

The project team has made progress towards
a robust recovery of the NSTX-U
Important reviews, design work, and project activities:
 A thorough assessment, conducted by 50+ external
reviewers, identified all problems requiring repair torecover robust plasma operations
 PPPL has completed the preliminary design of the NSTX-U
Recovery scope Early material procurements, coil prototyping and testing A baseline review of the total project cost and schedule isslated to take place in February of 2019

Engineering analysis of new
castellated PFC tile design

TF/OH conductor bundle
prior to a casing fit-up lift

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Prototype coil testing tofull field and current

Castellated tile in situ

An independent panel of fusion experts
reaffirmed the scientific mission for NSTX-U
Ray Orbach led a DOE OPA subcommittee, which found:•“Full exploitation of the NSTX-U facility is essential for critical tests of thepotential advantages of the spherical tokamak for fusion power
production.”•“In its chosen domain of exploration of high- performance, high-β, andlow-collisionality plasmas, NSTX-U is and will be the world leader.”NSTX-U central
magnet provides~2 x higher BT2
compared to MAST-U

NSTX-U

NSTX-U conducting
plates provide~3 x higher totalpressure compared to
MAST-U

MAST-U

Complementary ST
facility in the UK
Dedicated on
October 18

Dr. Raymond Orbach (former DOE
Under Secretary for Science, 20062009)

DIII-D Long Torus Opening (LTO)• DIII-D will complete LTO in April 2019 and operate for up to
12 weeks in FY 2019
• Major ongoing LTO tasks include:-

New co/counter off-axis neutral beam modification
Top-launch ECCD capability
Helicon antenna
Installation of helicon strip-line antenna
New/upgraded diagnostics

New diagnostics
Co/counter off-axis neutral beam

• Other activities enabled by robust FY 2018 funding
include:Top launch ECCD-

New helium liquefier and 3 replacement gyrotrons on orderStart of high-field-side LHCD project
New collaboration grants
Sustaining engineering work to increase facility reliability

Frontier science on DIII-D•In FY 2017, FES started a new initiative to focus some DIII-D
experiments on frontier plasma science•

Whistler wave experiment resulted in a post-deadline invited
paper at the 2017 APS-DPP meeting, a recent PRL paper (Spong etal., 2018 PRL 120, 155002), and 2018 APS-DPP oral presentation by
Z. Williams (U. Wisc) - Wed Afternoon Session PI2•

Four experiments selected in 2018 utilizing 5 run days:
 EMIC waves: Leads W. Heidbrink (UCI)/S. Vincena (UCLA))
 Runaway electrons & plasma waves: Lead D. Spong (ORNL)
 Positron generation by runaways: Lead P. Aleynikov (IPP) Sawtooth reconnection studies: Lead W. Fox (PPPL)•Engagement very positive, with visiting scientists impressed by
the quality of DIII-D data•

Focus is now on analysis to obtain results from each study•

In FY 2019, the program will be assessed to evaluate progress andto integrate review and selection processes

EMICs depopulate magnetosphere11Remote tools are being made available to U.S.
institutions to facilitate international collaboration• In FY 2018, 7 institutions used remotetools to connect remotely to EAST
facility during evening in China– GA, Lehigh U., LLNL, MIT, PPPL, UCLA, U. of Texas– 10 days of operations, ~250 shots• Services support non-trivial utilization of
EAST facility, can be made available toany remote control room in U.S.
– Fast bulk data transfer avoiding bottlenecks– Real-time data, MDSplus data server– Multi-channel audio/video

12• Remote control rooms were also used toprovide U.S. support to W7-X during
recent campaign (OP1.2b)

68 scientists from 9 U.S.
research institutions canalready access the services

FES SciDAC portfolio continues to emphasize
integration and whole-device modeling FES SciDAC-4 portfolio has nine multi-institutional
and inter-disciplinary projects (seven supported
both by FES and ASCR)o The ninth project added in FY 2018 is focused on
runaway electron avoidance and mitigationo 11 universities, 8 DOE national laboratories, and 5
private industry institutions (including small
businesses) in 13 stateso Five of these projects are led by university scientists
and the rest include substantial university
participationo More details can be found at:https://scidac.gov/partnerships/fusion_energy.html

 FES SciDAC research activities are coordinated toaccelerate progress toward whole-device modelingand increase synergy with the Theory and Exascale(ECP) programs
 The new portfolio addresses research opportunities
identified in recent community workshops
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Strong scaling of the XGC1 code on the maximal
available Summit nodes, enabled by the Center for
Accelerated Application Readiness (CAAR)FES is exploring opportunities in QIS•

FES held a Roundtable meeting on May 1-2, 2018, to explore its role in Quantum
Information Science (QIS) Co-chaired by Thomas Schenkel (LBNL) and Bill Dorland (U Maryland) Attended by 15 participants and several observers•

The meeting objectives were to:•

Identified six compelling Priority Research Opportunities

 Identify fundamental science supported by FES that could advance QIS development; and Explore QIS applications that could have transformative impact on FES mission areas(e.g., fusion and discovery plasma science)

Report available from:https://science.energy.gov/~/media/fes/pdf/w
orkshop-reports/FES-QIS_report_final-2018Sept14.pdf

Materials Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX)
new MIE Project•••

FES has initiated a new Major Item of Equipment (MIE) project with approval of the Scientific Mission Need for a
Linear Divertor Simulator in March of 2018
This project will enable new experimental capability for reactor-relevant plasma-materials interaction studies,including high-heat exposure of neutron-irradiated samples
In response to the mission need, FES has begun development of the Materials Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX),
which is based on the Proto-MPEX Source Experiment at ORNL
– Conceptual design of the MPEX device began at ORNL in the summer of 2018 and is currently ongoing, with completion
expected by the end of summer 2019•

Construction of the MPEX device will result in a significant expansion of fusion materials science experimental
capabilities in the U.S.
Proto-MPEX Source Experiment

MPEX conceptualization

Specimens and irradiation capsule15

Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source Workshop•

33 members of the US fusion materials community, theVirtual Laboratory for Technology, and private industry
met on August 20-22, 2018 to discuss the possibility of
the US exploring a near-term, low cost Fusion
Prototypic Neutron Source•

Initial discussion indicated that there is significant
scientific value in an intermediate next-step device on
the road to IFMIF or one of its variants (e.g.,
DONES/AFNS)– The source must be “near term” (construction possible in≤ 3 years) and of moderate cost
– The goal is to provide scientific understanding to enable
an Fusion Nuclear Science Facility, not engineering daterequired for full licensing•

Minimum required source characteristics:

8-11 dpa/CY in the high flux zone
~10 appm He/dpa in Fe≥ 50 cm3 in the high flux zone
300 – 1000 °C, with three independent temperaturezones actively monitored and controlled– Flux gradient ≤ 20%/cm in the plane of the sample––––

Summary of He dose relationships important for steels
Specimens and irradiation capsule16

A new intermediate-scale user facility for dusty
plasma research was awarded in 2018

Report of the Panel on
Frontiers of Plasma Science“Several areas of basic plasma sciencewould benefit from new intermediatescale facilities.” (2010 Decadal Study)“There is a need for creationand exploration of new
regimes in the laboratory.”(2016 PSF Report)

FES awarded $1.5M of FY18 funds over three years to
Auburn University to operate the Magnetized Dusty
Plasma Experiment (MDPX), an intermediate-scale,integrated, collaborative plasma science
17 user facilityNSF/DOE Partnership:
Over $8 million funded by FES in 2018
Millions

Annual FES Funding Profile for the Partnership
$10
$9
$8
$7
$6
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0

1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017•

FES provided $8.3 million FY18 funds for the Partnership,
supporting 11 new or renewal proposals in basic plasma,
non-neutral/dusty plasma, HED plasma, and low
temperature plasma•

This includes $2.5 million over five years for antihydrogen
research led by the University of California-Berkeley,collaborating with ALPHA•

Also, includes $2.3 million for Basic Plasma Science User
Facility’s (BaPSF) continuing operation and research at UCLA8

FES established LaserNetUS in FY18 in response to NAS recommendations

The network provides broad access to state-of-the-art facilities for the entire community

3. ITER Updates

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Progress of U.S. ITER project
US ITER Subproject-1 (First Plasma) is 55% complete

Relative value>80% of fabrication awards for U.S. ITER project remain in
the U.S.
• 600+ contracts to U.S. industry, universities, and national
laboratories in 44 states• 500+ direct jobs, 1100+ indirect jobs per year

Current status of ITER complex
Radio Frequency Bldg.
Hosts the radio wavegenerating systems thatwill contribute to heating
the plasma.

Service Bldg.
Accommodates a large
number of industrial
support services andsystems.

Assembly Hall
Components will be preassembled in this 6,000-squaremeter building, equipped with adouble overhead traveling craneand powerful handling tools.

Tritium Bldg.
Houses tritium systems.

Poloidal Field Coils
Winding Facility
Four of the six poloidal field coils
will be produced by Europe inthis 257-meter long facility.

Tokamak Bldg.
The crane C1, near thecenter of the bioshield,
marks the approximate axisof the ITER Tokamak.

Cryoplant
Will provide coolant to theMagnet Systems, thecryopumps and thethermal shield.

Diagnostics Bldg.
Houses the electronic andinformation systems thatwill receive, record andinterpret signals from theoperational arena.

400 kV Switchyard
Connects the site to
the grid.

Magnet Power
Conversion Bldgs.
Host the AC/DC
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converters that feed
power to the magnets.

Examples of U.S. hardware for ITERFirst U.S. hardware
installed in theTokamak Complex
Drain tanks
fabricated in the
U.S. were also thefirst nuclearcertified
components
delivered to the
ITER site.

Energizing of theSSEN delivered by
the US to the ITER
site

CentralSolenoid
Module 1 at
GeneralAtomics Poway,
CA facility

Drain tank being lifted to the tokamak facility23

4. Community Activities

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FES strategic choices are informed by communityand Advisory Committee input

2015 Applications of Fusion
Energy Sciences Research2015 Community Workshops:
Integrated Simulations, Transients, Plasma Materials Interactions, & Plasma
Science Frontiers
252018 FESAC Transformative
Enabling Capabilities

2015 FES 10-year Perspective

2016 FES Exascale
Requirements

2017 FES NAS Report on Intense
Ultrafast Lasers

2018 FES Roundtable
on QISFESAC report on Transformative Enabling
Capabilities toward Fusion Energy•••

FESAC was charged with identifying the mostpromising Transformative Enabling Capabilities (TECs)
for promoting efficient advance towards fusionenergy, building on burning plasma science andtechnology
The fusion community provided 67 white papers and67 presentations at three meetings as input to FESAC
The FESAC report identified the following four first-tier(most promising) TECs:– Advanced algorithms– High critical-temperature superconductors– Advanced materials– Novel technologies in tritium fuel-cycle control.

•

The report also noted one second-tier (promising)
TEC:– Fast-flowing liquid-metal plasma-facing components.

•
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The report was presented at the Feb 2018 FESAC
meetingNational Academy burning plasma interim
report was issued on December 21, 2017

The interim report notes that:• Burning plasma research is essential to thedevelopment of magnetic fusion energy• The U.S. has contributed leading advancesin burning plasma science• ITER is the only existing project to create
burning plasma at reactor scale• The U.S. should develop a national strategicplan leading to a fusion demonstration
deviceFull report is expected by the end of201827

Physics 2020:
A Decadal Assessment of Plasma Science• Objective

Conduct a study of the past progress and future promise ofplasma science and technology and provide recommendations tobalance the objectives of the field in a sustainable and healthymanner over the long term

• Multiple federal sponsors- DOE (FES, HEP, NNSA, ARPA-E)- NSF- DOD (AFOSR, ONR)

• Co-Chairs:– Mark J. Kushner (U. Michigan)– Gary P. Zank (U. Alabama-Huntsville)• Names and bios of committee members:

https://www8.nationalacademies.org/pa/projectview.aspx?key=51149• First public committee meeting was held on October 15
2010 Plasma Decadal Survey(Chair: Steve Cowley)28

Upcoming FESAC Meeting• Next FESAC meeting is scheduled for December 6-7– Detailed information is posted on the FESAC website:
https://science.energy.gov/fes/fesac/meetings/– Remote participation will be possible• Possible agenda items include:– SC leadership presentation (Undersecretary Paul Dabbar)– FES status report– Report from the August 2018 Committee of Visitors (COV)– Report from the May 2018 QIS Roundtable meeting– Report from the Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source workshop– Report about NAS 2020 Plasma Decadal Survey– A new charge on Fusion Program Prioritization Activity
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Fusion Program Prioritization Activity• Recent community input via workshops and otheractivities have informed the strategic priorities of the FES
program, as reflected in the FES Ten-Year Perspective plan
• The community self-organized two workshops last year
to provide valuable input to the NAS burning plasma
study• We are now ready to take the next step toward thedevelopment of a comprehensive long-range plan for the
FES program, following a process similar to the one usedby the Office of Science HEP and NP programs for thedevelopment of the P5 report and Long Range Plan
• The plan will be comprehensive and will include all FES
program areas (i.e., MFE, General Plasma Science, HEDLP,
etc.)• A FESAC charge will be issued at the upcoming December
meeting• FESAC subcommittee activities will be preceded byintensive community activities (workshops, townhall
meetings, etc.) coordinated by APS-DPP and APS

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Fusion program prioritization will adapt the
HEP (P5) and NP (LRP) processes

Phase 1: Community-organized activities
Community AwarenessInform the community that a FESAC charge is coming

Subfield community self-organization

Community plans how to fill gaps from Madison & Austin meetings

FESAC charge issued

18-24 month clock starts with budget guidance/scenarios

FES tasks APS-DPP to convene topical town hall meetings

Subfield white papers, talks, virtual meetings (esp. early-career scientists); build on
2017-2018 community organization and NAS reports; community demographics &diversity; followed by homework revisions & priorities“Snowmass” meeting~10 day meeting where all subfields attend
312018 Now!

Fusion program prioritization will adapt the
HEP (P5) and NP (LRP) processes

Phase 2: FESAC Working GroupFESAC chair & vice chair select Working Group with FES concurrence

Solicit nominations from community; working group meetings discussing the four frontiers

FESAC Working Group convenes Resolution Meeting

5 days with open & closed sessions; discussions and writing sessions with final draft
recommendations

FESAC vote & report transmittal
Stakeholder briefings

FES community, OMB, OSTP, Congress, international partners

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5. People

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2018 Nobel Physics Prize for CPA led to thedevelopment of high-power lasers for HEDP
2018 Nobel Prize in Physics

Donna Strickland & Gerard Mourou:"Compression of amplified chirped opticalpulses" (Optics Communications, 1985)

Congratulations!
• First Petawatt Laser• LLNL, May 23, 1996

Chirped pulse amplification (CPA)DOE updates since 2017 APS-DPP

Mr. Paul M. Dabbar was sworn in as Under
Secretary for Science on November 7, 2017

• Has visited a number of U.S. and overseas
fusion facilities and institutions

Dr. Chris Fall was nominated on May 18, 2018, asthe Director of the DOE Office of Science• Dr. Fall is presently the Principal Deputy
Director of ARPA-E• Senate hearing was held June 26, 2018
• Awaiting final Senate confirmation

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Other updates since 2017 APS-DPP
PPPL:
Prof. Steven Cowley became the 7th Directorof the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

FES:
Dr. Mark Foster entered phased
retirement status in July 2018
• He is working half-time, assisting Matt
Lanctot and Curt Bolton to assume
program manager responsibilities for
DIII-D and Measurement Innovation
programs, respectively
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Dr. Sam Barish plans to enter phased
retirement status in December 2018
• He will work half-time• He will continue to manage thestellarator program and FESAC• Other duties will transition elsewhere

FES Postdoctoral Researcher Program – CY 2018
F
Y
1
7
&
1
8

Marlene Patino
Plasma MaterialInteraction
Studies at
PISCES (UCSD)Ben Faber

Stellarator
Optimization(UW Madison)

F
Y
1
8
&
1
9
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Reed Hollinger

Relativistic Laser
Interactions(Colorado State)

Anton Neff
DIII-D Impurity
Collector Probe
Analysis (ORNL)

Ryan Sweeney
Disruption
Mitigation(MIT)

Luke Stagner
Runawayelectrons(GA)

Jacob Nichols
Whole-Device
Modeling(U. Tenn. –Knoxville)

Noah Hurst

Electronplasma fluids(UCSD)

2018 FES Early Career Awards

Dr. Sam Lazerson (PPPL)

Dr. Tammy Ma (LLNL)

Energetic particle
confinement in
Stellarators

Laser-driven particle
acceleration for Novel HED and
ICF Applications

Prof. David Donovan(U. Tennessee)

Prof. Kentaro Hara
(Texas A&M)

Impurity Transport inmagnetically confined fusion

Self-organization in lowtemperature magnetized plasmas

Dr. Alex Zylstra (LANL*)
Nuclear Astrophysics with
Inertial Fusion Implosions* Moved to LLNL

Dr. Nate Ferraro (PPPL)

Modeling of ELM suppression
and mitigation