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Interim Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research (2018) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-5

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From page 1...
... New ideas to control and sustain burning plasma have been discovered, and theoretical and computational models developed in the United States have substantially improved the ability to control plasma stability, predict plasma confinement, and enhance fusion energy performance. The understanding of burning plasma science has advanced significantly, including such critical topics as the transport of heat and particles by multi-scale turbulence, the behavior of energetic particles produced by fusion reactions, and the physics of the narrow insulating layer at the plasma edge (or "pedestal")
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From page 2...
... Assessment 4: Although our international partners have national strategic plans leading to a fusion energy demonstration device, the United States does not. Since the National Research Council's (NRC's)
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From page 3...
... As an ITER partner, the United States benefits from the long-recognized value of international cooperation to combine the scientific and engineering expertise, industrial capacity, and financial resources necessary for such an inherently large project. A decision by the United States to withdraw from the ITER project as the primary experimental burning plasma component within a balanced long-term strategic plan for fusion energy could isolate U.S.
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From page 4...
... Therefore, the committee makes the following final assessment that will guide the strategies for both scenarios in the final report. Assessment 7: If the United States wishes to maintain scientific and technical leadership in this field, the committee concludes that the United States needs to develop its own long-term strategic plan for fusion energy.
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From page 5...
...  Innovation in fusion science and technology targeted to improve the fusion power system as a commercial energy source, and  A mission for fusion energy research that engages the participation of universities, national laboratories, and industry in the realization of commercial fusion power for the nation.
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Key Terms

  • fusion energy
  • plasma experiment
  • plasma research
  • magnetic fusion
  • fusion power

  • fusion reactions
  • plasma science
  • energy research
  • international partners
  • power plant

  • iter project
  • experimental burning
  • fusion reactor
  • commercial fusion
  • plasma component

  • energy demonstration
  • national strategic
  • international activities
  • international partnership
  • strategic plans

  • primary experimental
  • power source
  • substantially improved
  • energetic particles
  • plans leading

  • international fusion
  • plasma stability
  • convert fusion
  • enhance fusion
  • plasma operation


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