The members received a report, Joint Assessment of Specific Sites for ITER. Additional information on Site Assessment activities. CH2M Hill sponsored an informal meeting on September 10-11, 2003 of Industrialists to be briefed on the prospects for the ITER and the candidate organizations and procurement approaches for the project, both internationally and nationally. Spanish government offers to double host Futures exchange contribution for ITER site in Spain. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has informed the President of the European commission Romani Prodi that Spain will double its contribution to host ITER from the 450 million Euros agreed so far to 900 million Euros. A meeting of the European Council of Ministers will meet on November 27 to decide between Spain and France as the European site to be proposed for ITER.

Initial design funding for an experimental research end-station at the Linac Coherent Light Source User Facility for the Matter in Extreme Conditions Petawatt upgrade project. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has formed a committee on Key Goals and Innovations Needed for a U.S. Fusion Pilot Plant to provide guidance to the Forex dealer U.S. Department of Energy, and others, that are aligned with the objective of constructing a pilot plant in the United States that produces electricity from fusion at the lowest possible capital cost (“Pilot Plant”). Inertial Confinement and High Yield Campaign Program and Budget Details (1.3 MB, pdf) The ICF HY budget is increased by $13M to $467M.

TFTR engineering systems operated above the original design ratings for toroidal field and neutral beam power. Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield Campaign budget for FY 2008 is $470M and $421M is proposed for FY 2009. European governments want to slow down construction of ITER. Cost containment, development of the radiofrequency heating systems and in-vessel coil systems, status of R&D on the ITER Disruption Mitigation System and resolution of central solenoid conductor problems. The EP also said it supported ITER being partially funded through project bonds issued by the European Investment Bank. Prospects and alternatives for development of the US stellarator program – J.

Europe

The conference agreement provides $8,000,000 for ITER activities in fiscal year 2004, and restores $6,800,000 to domestic fusion research. The conferees strongly caution the Department against submitting any future budget requests for ITER that are funded at the expense of domestic research. The signature took place at a ceremony at the Elysée Palace in Paris and was hosted by the President of the French Republic M. Jacques Chirac and by the President of the European Commission, M. José Manuel Durão Barroso. This constitutes the first act of the newly established ITER Organization. With the signature of the ITER Agreement and the first Council meeting, the ITER Organization can start its operation on a provisional basis pending the entry into force of the agreement which is expected in the course of 2007. ITER Negotiation News JET’s future is in doubt because the current fusion budget at the European Union cannot both support the continent’s present fusion projects and pay for the construction of ITER, the planned international magnetic fusion reactor.

National Ignition Facility, the world’s most powerful laser was dedicated May 29, 2009.Campaign to achieve D-T fusion ignition planned for 2010. Laser and NIF Technical Symposium recounts development of lasers and history of NIF. Fusion Energy Sciences – The Committee recommends $398,324,000 as requested for Fusion Energy Sciences.

• Cost containment, development of the radiofrequency heating systems and in-vessel coil systems, status of R&D on the ITER Disruption Mitigation System and resolution of central solenoid conductor problems.
• In partnership with other SC programs, continuing support for QIS centers to promote basic research early stage development to accelerate the advancement of QIS through vertical integration between systems and theory and hardware and software.
• Initial design funding for an experimental research end-station at the Linac Coherent Light Source User Facility for the Matter in Extreme Conditions Petawatt upgrade project.
• A decision on the Canadian ITER proposalexpected at the October 2 meeting of high level Canadian cabinet members has been delayed.
• This is an increase of about $21M over the FY 2003 appropriation and $10.8M above the President’s request for FY 2004.

No decision has yet been reached on the site for the proposed European site to be submitted to the international decision process. Some discussions were held on potential cost sharing arrangements. The ITER schedule avus capital calls for a decision on the ITER site, Director General and cost sharing arrangement by the end of December 2003. The next meeting, P-3, is scheduled to take place at the IAEA in Vienna in December, 2003.

Other Information On Fusion And Science

Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition And High Yield Campaign – The Committee recommends $460,000,000 as requested. “There is now a credible estimate of the schedule and cost envelope with respect to the financial capabilities of all the members,” says ITER director general Bernard Bigot. “All the pieces are in place to make a decision.” That decision will come at the council’s next meeting in June.

The House and SenateAppropriations Committes have marked up the the FY 2004 Appropriation bill for Fusion Energy Sciences and Inertial Confinement Fusion. The House proposes an increase of $10.8M increase over the President’s FY 2004 Fusion Energy Sciences budget request for a total of $268M. Both Senate and House versions support particpation in ITER with flexibility for the available funds to be distributed to balance the needs of the fusion program.

Fusion Program

NIF construction funding is now past the peak and decreases from $214M to $150M in the ICF HY budget. It’s All about Energy – one person’s view of 12 alternate energy sources Tuesday, 15 December, the European Commission is chairing a panel discussion on low-carbon technologies. The FESAC met in Gaithersburg, MD on January 31, 2013. The Priorities Subcommittee report was reviewed and revised by FESAC, and the final FESAC report was sent to DOE on Feb 14, 2013. The US fusion program has expended nearly $7B during the past 20 years. The official European Union Commission and US Department of Energydocuments provide details on the estimated annual budget requirements and anticipated schedule for the ITER Construction Project from 2017 to completion of construction activities in ~2038.

Two new charges were issued for FESAC to assess International Collaboration possibities and to assess Nuclear Science Issues. The agenda and links to presentations and a videocast of the meeting are available. The FESAC response will be drafted by a Subcommittee chaired by Dr Troy Carter, a member of FESAC and Professor of Physics at UCLA. Additional subcommittee members will be named in the near future. The goal is to finish and present the draft report to FESAC by the end of December 2020. The Materials-Plasma Exposure eXperiment project, which will be a world-leading facility for dedicated studies of reactor-relevant heat and particle loads on fusion materials.

National Broadcasters

Fusion Energy Sciences – The Committee recommends $474,617,000 for fusion energy sciences, $72,440,000 above fiscal year 2012 and $76,293,000 above the request. This restores domestic fusion activities including operation of Alcator C-Mod and more nearly funds the ITER construction request. Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Yield Campaign –The Committee pepperstone review recommends $480,000,000, $3,726,000 above fiscal year 2012 and $20,000,000 above the budget request. New ITER Chief Aims to Get Some Financial Wiggle Room – ScienceInsider- Cost cutting has been the name of the game for Osamu Motojima since he took the reins of the ITER fusion reactor project, the world’s most expensive science experiment, in July.

Megascience Projects And International Collaboration

The Ottawa government has decided to let the Canadian bid for siting ITER die. Officials close to the discussions here said federal cabinet ministers fear huge cost overruns on the project. A decision on the Canadian ITER proposalexpected at the October 2 meeting of high level Canadian cabinet members has been delayed. Canadian umarkets federal cabinet decision on whether Canada will move forward as a party on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is expected at a September 18 meeting. New, September 19, 2003.The international partners on the project are expected to decide on a global location for the facility in October.New, October 10, 2003.

The proposed FY 2004 budget for hydrogen and fuel cell research through FreedomFUEL and FreedomCAR is $273M. Renewable Energy Supply and Budget Details The renewable energy supply budget is increased by $37M (9%) to $444M. The Hydrogen Technology activity is more than doubled to $88M. NSO-PAC Interim Report in February 27-28, 2003 calls for FIRE work to continue until a decision is made on ITER construction in accordance with the FESAC Burning Plasma Strategy.

International Broadcasters

Within these funds, the Committee recommends $150,000,000 as requested for the U.S. contribution to ITER. Further, the Committee directs the Office of Science to include a project data sheet with details of all project costs until the completion of the project for ITER in the fiscal year 2014 budget submission. Europe pauses funding for €500 million fusion research reactor July Margin trading 6, 2017 Six Exhaust Systems Make the Cut for EuroFusion funding July 11, 2017 U.K. Throws lifeline to JET fusion site – The UK government indicated that it would support 2 years of JET operation past 2018 when the present Euratom contract ends. Support for SciDAC in partnership with ASCR, research in high-energy-density laboratory plasma science, and discovery plasma science.

Travel for researchers supported by grants and cooperative agreements is approved. TFTR engineering systems operated reliably above the original design ratings for toroidal field and neutral beam power. Research opportunities for U.S. scientists at overseas superconducting tokamaks and stellerators and other international facilities with unique capabilities, enabled by U.S. hardware and intellectual contributions.

The Energy and Water Appropriations Conference Report has now been finalized with an FY 2004 budget of $264.1M. Fusion energy sciences- The conference agreement includes $264,110,000 for fusion energy sciences, an increase of $6,800,000 over the budget request. The budget request proposed $12,000,000 for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor , but did so by displacing $10,800,000 of ongoing domestic fusion research.