Fusion Energy Sciences
Program UpdateJames W. Van Dam
Acting Associate Director
Office of ScienceFusion Energy Sciences

Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee Meeting
March 12 & 13, 20191

1. Budget Updates2Top‐level FY 2020 Budget Request released• Supports Cutting‐Edge Basic Research and Leading Scientific User
Facilities. The Budget provides $5.5 billion for the Office of Science tocontinue its mission to focus on early‐stage research, operate the national
laboratories, and continue high priority construction projects. Within thisamount, $500 million is budgeted for Exascale computing to help secure aglobal leadership role in supercomputing, $169 million for Quantum
Information Science, $71 million for artificial intelligence and machinelearning, and $25 million to enhance materials and chemistry foundational
research to support U.S.‐based leadership in microelectronics.
• Anticipate the full Administration budget request for FY 2020 to bereleased next week
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/3

2. Programmatic Updates

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FY 2019 Funding Opportunity Announcements
FOA / Lab Call

Title

IssuedLOI / Pre‐Pr

Proposals

Open: accepting LOIs / preproposals, and proposals
DE‐FOA‐0002088High‐Energy‐Density‐Laboratory Plasma Science

2/21/19

3/21/19

4/22/2019

DE‐FOA‐0002076
LAB 19‐2076

Collaborative Research in Magnetic Fusion Energy Scienceson International Tokamaks

3/7/194/4/195/9/2019

DE‐FOA‐0002078
LAB 19‐2078

Quantum Information Science Research for Fusion Energy
Science

3/7/194/4/195/9/2019

Closed: awaiting submission of proposals
DE‐FOA‐0002037
LAB 19‐2037

Low Temperature Plasma Science Centers and Facilities

12/20/18

1/25/19

3/25/2019

DE‐FOA‐0002019
LAB 19‐2019

Early Career Research Program

1/7/192/6/194/29/2019

DE‐FOA‐0001973

Theoretical Research in Magnetic Fusion Energy Science

1/11/19

2/11/19

3/26/2019

Closed: proposals received and undergoing merit review

5DE‐FOA‐0001974

Collaborative Fusion Energy Research in the DIII‐D NationalProgram

12/19/18

1/15/19

3/5/2019

NSF 16‐564

NSF‐DOE Partnership in Basic Plasma Science & Engineering

Ongoing

N/A

10/19/2018https://science.energy.gov/fes/funding‐opportunities/

FES is pursuing new opportunities near‐term• Underway:– DIII‐D: new facility enhancements and refurbishment; expanded user base
– NSTX‐U: Recovery/repair activities are being baselined– Theory/simulation: 9th SciDAC center; QIS FOA; ML/AI workshop– International: W7‐X pellet injection fueling system; JET shattered pellet injector; EAST 3rd shift
remote operation– Materials: MPEX as an MIE project– General plasma science: 2nd university collaborative research facility– HEDLP: LaserNetUS• Pursuing:– Enabling R&D: HTS conductor testing facility– Nuclear Science: prototypic fusion neutron source– HEDLP: Petawatt Laser Facility (CD‐0)– Private‐public partnership pilot program6

Office of Science QIS PIs Kick‐Off Meeting(Jan 31‐Feb 1, 2019)

AGENDA• Inter‐agency QIS activities (JakeTaylor)• SC program office ADs remarks
and panel discussion• Plenary talks (3)• Lightning round of quantum
center pitches (2 minutes each)• Topical breakout summaries• Office breakout get‐togethers
FES remarks about Quantum Information Science7

FES is exploring opportunities in QIS•

FES held a Roundtable meeting on May 1‐2, 2018, to explore its unique role inQuantum 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: Identify fundamental science supported by FES that could advance QIS development; and Explore QIS applications that could have transformative impact on FES mission areas••

Identified six compelling Priority Research Opportunities
FES has just issued a solicitation (FOA and Lab Call) to competitively select pilot
projects in QIS

Report available from:https://science.energy.gov/~/media/fes/pdf/
workshop‐reports/FES‐QIS_report_final‐2018‐
Sept14.pdf

Machine Learning / AI Workshop• FES and ASCR are co‐sponsoring a joint workshop on“Advancing Fusion with Machine Learning”• The objectives of this workshop are to:• Identify areas where application of Machine Learning /Artificial Intelligence (ML/AI) techniques and data
science more broadly can have a transformative impact
on FES mission areas• Identify unique needs and gaps that can be addressed
through coordinated partnerships between fusion andcomputational scientists• Explore synergies and opportunities within DOE andoutside, including private industry; and• Identify research principles for maximizing
effectiveness of applying ML/AI methods to fusionproblems.
• The findings of the workshop, in the form of a set of priority
research opportunities, will be summarized in a report thatwill be submitted to FES and ASCR after the conclusion ofthe workshop
9Dates: April 30 – May 2, 2019
Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center
Chair:David Humphreys (General Atomics)
Co‐Chair: Ana Kupresanin (LLNL)SC POCs: John Mandrekas & Matthew Lanctot (FES);
Randall Laviolette (ASCR)

Image courtesy of W. Tang (PPPL)

Fusion Energy Systems Studies recent developments• Liquid metal plasma‐facing components have attracted attention due totheir potential advantages over solid PFC options, as highlighted in the 2015
Community PMI report• The national Fusion Energy Systems Study (FESS) team recently completed
a two‐year examination of this class of PFCs from a systems‐level
perspective in order to identify promising concepts and provide feedback
about R&D on the path toward demonstrated viability• Details can be found in an upcoming issue of Fusion Science andTechnology• A new three‐year study, just launched, will examine aspects andimplications of the NAS Burning Plasma Report from a systems‐wideperspective, including high‐field magnets, compactness, electricity‐first pilot
plants, and economy of scale

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CLiFF (Convective Liquid
Flow First‐Wall) Concept

US‐Japan Project Arrangement forHigh Energy Density Science signed on January 23• A signing ceremony was held on January 23
for a new Project Arrangement Concerning
High Energy Density Science under the DOE‐
MEXT Implementing Arrangement Concerning
Cooperation in Research and Development inEnergy and Related Fields• This new Project Arrangement will facilitate
cooperation in the area of high energy density
science, specifically in the research anddevelopment of high power lasers and highenergy density science with large scale laserfacilities• The signing ceremony took place during a
Japan‐US Symposium on Perspective of HighEnergy Density Science and Technology byHigh Power Lasers, held at the Embassy ofJapan (Washington, DC) on January 23, 201911

FES funds operations and/or upgrades of 9 laser facilities:•Six at universities (UNL, CSU, OSU, UM, UT Austin, UR)

First LaserNetUS Principal Investigators Meeting was•Three at national laboratories (LLNL, SLAC, LBNL)

held January 16, 2019 (Rockville, MD)

FES established LaserNetUS in FY 2018 in response to National Academy report recommendations
The network provides broad access to state‐of‐the‐art high‐power laser facilities for the entire U.S. community

US‐Japan Bilateral CCFE Meeting• US‐Japan Coordinating
Committee on Fusion
Energy Meeting (CCFE‐39)– Held March 6 (US) = March 7(JA), 2019
– Plans for celebrating 40thanniversary next year

• Planning similar bilateralmeetings later this yearwith EU and Korea
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30th anniversary report(CCFE, 2011, 234 pages)

KSTAR 10th Anniversary Celebration

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Congratulations to KSTAR

3. ITER Updates15

DOE Leadership visited ITER site in 2018

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry visited ITER on July 11, 201816

DOE Under Secretary for Science, Paul Dabbar, visited ITER
on December 10, 2018

Dr. Bigot has accepted the Council’s offer of a second five‐year term as Director‐General, to begin March 2020.

The tokamak complex takes shape

• gg
17

Photos & text from USBPO eNews
and ITER Newsline

The tokamak bioshield is now hidden behind the walls of the tokamak building.

Tokamak building rises

The concretewalls of theTokamak
Building arerising next tothe metal‐clad
Assembly
Building(December2018).
Photo: ITER
Organization

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Sub Sector Assembly Tool Installation

Assembly of the firsttool (left) is complete,
and the second tool is
now in the final phaseof assembly.
Photo: ITER
Organization

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Looking down into the tokamak pit as it is being
prepared for the first tokamak components

The tokamak pit is being
prepared for the first tokamak
components.
Photo: ITER Organization

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First machine component brought
into the ITER tokamak pit
On the night of November 26,
2018, the first metal componentof the machine ̶ a cryostat
feedthrough for poloidal fieldcoil #4 ̶ entered the tokamak
pit. This was no small feat; thecomponent is 10 meters long
and weighs 6.6 tons. It wasdelicately lowered 30 meters
down onto the tokamak pit
floor. This auspicious occasion
marks the beginning of five
years of tokamak assemblyactivities.
Photo: ITER Organization
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Diagnostic building ready for systems installation

The lowest basementlevel of the Diagnostic
Building shows
embedded plates forthe attachment ofsystem supports.
Photo: ITER
Organization

22

Installation of US in‐kind hardware at ITER

Three US‐supplied draintanks for the tokamakcooling water system were
installed in August 201823

4. Program Planning24

NAS Burning Plasma report• Final report (December 2018):– ITER plays a central role in U.S. burning plasma research activities and iscurrently the only existing project to create a burning plasma at the scaleof a power plant. Because the ITER partnership is the central focus in thelarge international effort to develop fusion energy, the United Statessignificantly benefits from participation in the ITER partnership. The U.S.
has contributed leading advances in burning plasma science.
– If the United States withdraws from the ITER project, the national research
effort would be significantly disrupted, United States researchers would beisolated from the international effort, and any benefit from sharing thecost in critical burning plasma studies and fusion demonstration would beeliminated. Without ITER, the United States would need to design, license,and construct an alternative means to gain experience creating andcontrolling an energy‐ producing burning plasma. The scale of researchfacilities within the United States would be more costly. The achievementof electricity production from fusion in the United States would bedelayed.

25• Report at this meeting from the National Academy BP panelleadersPhysics 2020:
A Decadal Assessment of Plasma SciencePrevious Decadal Report• Objective

Conduct a study of the past progress and future promise of plasma scienceand technology and provide recommendations to balance the objectives ofthe field in a sustainable and healthy manner over the long term

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

• Co‐Chairs:– Prof. Mark J. Kushner (U. Michigan)– Prof. Gary P. Zank (U. Alabama‐Huntsville)• Meetings so far:26

2010 Plasma Decadal Survey(Chair: Steve Cowley)– First public meeting on October 15 (Washington DC) ̶ [FES talk]– Town Hall on November 6 at APS‐DPP Mtg (Portland)– Public meeting on January 10‐11 (Irvine) ̶ [FES talk]– Public meeting on March 5‐6 (virtual)– Public meeting on March 11‐12 (Washington DC) ̶ [FES talk]Opportunities in Intense Ultrafast Lasers:
Reaching for the Brightest Light (NAS, 2017)
Recommendations
1. DOE should create a broad national network (universities, industry,government labs) in coordination with OSTP, DOD, NSF, and others.

LaserNetUS

2. US research agencies should engage stakeholders to define facilities and laserparameters that will best serve research needs.
3. DOE should lead development of an interagency national strategy fordeveloping and operating large‐ and mid‐scale projects, and developingtechnology.
4. DOE should plan for at least one large‐scale open‐access, high‐intensity laser
facility that leverages other major science infrastructure in the DOE complex.

CD‐0 for Petawatt Laser Facility
5. Agencies should create U.S. programs that include mid‐scale infrastructure,project operations, development of technologies; and engagement inresearch at international facilities such as ELI.

This report was commissioned by : DOE‐SC, DOE‐NNSA, DOD‐AFOSR, and DOD‐ONR

Long‐range strategic planning activity launched
in FY 2019 for FES program• The plan will be comprehensive and will
include all FES program areas• Process is similar to that used by the Office ofScience High Energy Physics (HEP) andNuclear Physics (NP) programs for thedevelopment of the HEP‐P5 report andNP‐Long Range Plan28

Long‐Range Planning Activities• FES is grateful that the community and APS‐DPP are undertaking thechallenge of long‐range planning for the national program• FES is here to help
– Discussions with/among FES, DPP Ex Comm leadership, Coordinating Committee
leadership, and FESAC chair– Funding to support community activities• At this meeting, speakers from HEP and NP communities will describe
their respective program planning activities29

2018 Committee of Visitors• Following approval of the COV report at Dec 2018 FESAC meeting,it was sent to the director of the Office of Science• FES has prepared a written response to the recommendations– It will now go through the DOE concurrence process– After DOE approval, it will be posted on the FESAC web page
– The next COV will assess how FES responded to these recommendations

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