The National Academies Press

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1 Background
Pages 6-10

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From page 6... ... If successful, ITER would create the first fusion device capable of producing thermal energy comparable to the output of a power plant, making commercially viable fusion power available as soon as 2050." The importance of a burning plasma experiment as a required step in the development of practical fusion energy has been appreciated for decades.3 "A burning plasma experiment would address for the first time the scientific and technological questions that all energy-producing fusion schemes must face."4 As explained in the 1999 Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) report Burning Plasma Physics, "Producing and understanding the dynamics of a burning plasma will be an immense physics challenge and the crucial next step in establishing the credibility of fusion as a source of energy."5 This finding was also enunciated by previous review panels, which additionally noted the required international, scientific, and political support for the endeavor to construct and operate a burning plasma experiment.6 The President's Committee of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST) Read the entire page →
From page 7... ... ,16 both facilitated through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , an international agreement to build and operate a burning plasma experiment was finally formalized in Paris with the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the ITER International Fusion Energy Organization for the Joint Implementation of the ITER Project in November 2006.17 The ITER International Fusion Energy Organization is a public international organization, with limited privileges and legal immunities, involving the United States with China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation. Read the entire page →
From page 8... ... decision is made, fulfilling the international commitment to help construct the ITER facility and participate in the ITER program will necessarily become the highest priority in the program."27 The NRC Burning Plasma Assessment Committee further recommended, "A prioritization process should be initiated by the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences to decide on the appropriate programmatic balance, given the science opportunities identified and the budgetary situation of the time." Four years later, the NRC Committee to Review the DOE Plan for U.S. Fusion Community Participation in the ITER Program28 recommended that steps should be taken to "seek greater funding stability for the international ITER project to ensure that the United States remains able to influence the developing ITER research program, to capitalize on research 21 U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 9... ... materials research as it relates to plasma and fusion science, and (3) research in the prediction and control of transient events that can be deleterious to toroidal fusion plasma confinement.33 Research in these areas address two frontiers in fusion and plasma science: "the physics of self-heated burning plasma state" using ITER as the vehicle for gaining access to this state, and the "great scientific challenge for fusion is to develop materials that can tolerate the extreme conditions created by burning plasma in a fusion reactor." The U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 10... ... fusion research program is focused on future scientific exploration of the burning plasma state in ITER. If the United States were to withdraw from participation in the ITER project, no alternate plan exists for accessing critical next-step burning plasma research at a scale leading to commercial fusion energy. Read the entire page →

From page 6...

... If successful, ITER would create the first fusion device capable of producing thermal energy comparable to the output of a power plant, making commercially viable fusion power available as soon as 2050." The importance of a burning plasma experiment as a required step in the development of practical fusion energy has been appreciated for decades.3 "A burning plasma experiment would address for the first time the scientific and technological questions that all energy-producing fusion schemes must face."4 As explained in the 1999 Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) report Burning Plasma Physics, "Producing and understanding the dynamics of a burning plasma will be an immense physics challenge and the crucial next step in establishing the credibility of fusion as a source of energy."5 This finding was also enunciated by previous review panels, which additionally noted the required international, scientific, and political support for the endeavor to construct and operate a burning plasma experiment.6 The President's Committee of Advisors in Science and Technology (PCAST)

Read the entire page →

From page 7...

... ,16 both facilitated through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , an international agreement to build and operate a burning plasma experiment was finally formalized in Paris with the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the ITER International Fusion Energy Organization for the Joint Implementation of the ITER Project in November 2006.17 The ITER International Fusion Energy Organization is a public international organization, with limited privileges and legal immunities, involving the United States with China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation.

Read the entire page →

From page 8...

... decision is made, fulfilling the international commitment to help construct the ITER facility and participate in the ITER program will necessarily become the highest priority in the program."27 The NRC Burning Plasma Assessment Committee further recommended, "A prioritization process should be initiated by the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences to decide on the appropriate programmatic balance, given the science opportunities identified and the budgetary situation of the time." Four years later, the NRC Committee to Review the DOE Plan for U.S. Fusion Community Participation in the ITER Program28 recommended that steps should be taken to "seek greater funding stability for the international ITER project to ensure that the United States remains able to influence the developing ITER research program, to capitalize on research 21 U.S.

Read the entire page →

From page 9...

... materials research as it relates to plasma and fusion science, and (3) research in the prediction and control of transient events that can be deleterious to toroidal fusion plasma confinement.33 Research in these areas address two frontiers in fusion and plasma science: "the physics of self-heated burning plasma state" using ITER as the vehicle for gaining access to this state, and the "great scientific challenge for fusion is to develop materials that can tolerate the extreme conditions created by burning plasma in a fusion reactor." The U.S.

Read the entire page →

From page 10...

... fusion research program is focused on future scientific exploration of the burning plasma state in ITER. If the United States were to withdraw from participation in the ITER project, no alternate plan exists for accessing critical next-step burning plasma research at a scale leading to commercial fusion energy.

Read the entire page →

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1 Background Pages 6-10

1 Background
Pages 6-10