OFES Perspective

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OFES Perspective
Presentation to FESACJanuary 13, 2009

• Stephen Eckstrand, Acting
• Associate Director of Science
• for Fusion Energy Sciences
• 301-903-4941

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Outline

• Solicitation Status
• OFES Status
• NSTX Upgrade Project
• ITER Update
• Strategic Planning Activities
• Strategic Plan Overview

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OFES Solicitation Status and Schedule
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OFES Status

• Gene Nardella has completed his term as acting
  Associate Director (and has done a very good job)
• Steve Eckstrand has been named the next acting
  Associate Director
• The Committee of Visitors has been postponed
  until after the June ReNeW.
• There has been a delay in bringing an IPA on
  board to assist with strategic planning in the
  plasma science area

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National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) Upgrade

• OFES is working on CD-0 (Approve Mission Need)
  for the proposed upgrades of NSTX
• New center stack magnet assembly that will double
  the magnetic field
• A second neutral beam (NB) line that will double
  the available NB power for heating and current
  drive
• The upgrades are aimed at maintaining NSTX as a
  world leader in research on the spherical torus
  concept
• The proposed scope, funding and schedule for the
  upgrades must be better defined before proceeding
  to CD-1 (Approve Alternative Selection and Cost
  Range)

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ITER Update

• The ITER Council met in Cadarache during November
  19-20, 2008.  The principal topics and
  outcomes included
• Interim Report from the Cost Review (aka
  Briscoe) Panel - No conclusions on cost yet made
  recommendations to the IO for work to lay the
  foundation for a credible estimate
• Enhanced project integration between the ITER
  Organization (IO) and Domestic Agencies
  Established three pilot Integrated Product Teams
  (First Wall Shield, Electric Power Systems, and
  Vacuum Vessel)
• Test Blanket Module (TBM) Program - Established a
  TBM Program under the framework of the ITER
  Agreement and tasked a TBM Program Committee to
  work out details and advise the Council on
  Program execution  U.S. has not yet committed to
  participate in the design and fabrication of TBMs

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ITER Update (2)

• Since cost is the main issue, the Council set a
  goal for the IO to deliver a baseline proposal by
  November 2009, and it asked the Briscoe Panel to
  reconvene and review progress before the June
  2009 Council meeting. The Council also advised
  the IO to continue work on completing integrated
  system designs as soon as possible
• One of the major design changes emerging from the
  2007 ITER Design Review was the addition
  of magnet coils to control Edge Localized Mode
  instabilities and ensure vertical stability of
  the plasma.  The U.S. (PPPL) has the lead in
  performing the conceptual design and cost
  estimate for this coil set.  There is no decision
  yet on which ITER Member will actually build
  these coils

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ITER Physics and Technology RD

• The U.S. community continues to be an effective
  contributor to ITER physics issues
• Annual Planning meeting of ITPA, IO, and IEA with
  international tokamak leaders held at MIT in
  December
• ITER Physics issues discussed and joint
  experiments are being planned need for
  coordination of modeling work discussed
• Resolution of some physics issues need technology
  development IO and the DAs are in the process of
  identifying resource support for such
  development needs
• IO is in the process of resuming work on ITER
  Research Plan needs support from Members
• USIPO, USBPO, and OFES are in the process of
  identifying liaison to the IO - IRP Working Group

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Strategic Planning Activities

• Work on the June ReNeW workshop is proceeding
  well (R. Hazeltine)
• A workshop on HEDLP is being planned for August
  2009
• A workshop on fission/fusion hybrids is being
  planned for the fall of 2009

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Strategic Plan Overview

• I. Overview Section
• The Role of Fusion Energy in the Long Range U.S.
  Energy Strategy
• A Brief History of Fusion Energy Research
• The Role of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences
  in Advancing Plasma and Fusion Energy Science
• Describes current program including ITER

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Strategic Plan Overview (2)

• II. Plan for a World-Leading Fusion Program
• The FES program has two overarching strategic
  goals
• Develop the knowledge needed to create a
  sustainable fusion energy source
• Pursue scientific opportunities and grand
  challenges in plasma science, including high
  energy density plasma science, to better
  understand our universe and to enhance national
  security and economic competitiveness
• With the initiation of the ITER project and the
  imminent completion of NIF, plasma science is at
  the threshold of new discoveries that will
  transform the field
• It is an opportune time for the FES program to
  tackle a wide range of scientific and technical
  challenges to the development of practical fusion
  energy, including fusion materials science and
  fusion engineering sciences
• Broadening and reinforcing the domestic FES
  research programs will position the U.S. to make
  world-leading contributions to the global effort
  to realize fusion energy

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Strategic Plan Overview (3)

• Strategic Goal 1 Towards a Sustainable Fusion
  Energy Source
• OFESs strategy for a world-leading domestic
  fusion energy science program is organized around
  a set of five Magnetic Fusion Research Themes and
  several possible parallel track efforts to
  accelerate scientific progress in these areas
• Contributing to the success of ITER and studying
  burning plasmas is the highest priority and is
  the first of the five Magnetic Fusion Research
  Themes
• ITER alone will not resolve all of the issues
  that must be addressed on the path to a
  demonstration fusion power plant. In its 2007
  and 2008 reports, FESAC identified the knowledge
  gaps that ITER will not address but that must be
  closed in order to acquire the knowledge needed
  for a demonstration fusion power plant

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Strategic Plan Overview (4)

• Achieving Strategic Goal 1
• Opportunities to address these gaps exist and
  need not await the results of ITER. Broadening
  the U.S. program to pursue a parallel-track
  approach is necessary to speed up the timetable
  for developing fusion energy and ensure that the
  U.S. continues to have a world-leading fusion
  program.
• These knowledge gaps have been grouped into an
  additional four remaining Magnetic Fusion
  Research Themes. The five themes are
• Understanding the burning plasma state in ITER
• Creating predictable, high performance,
  steady-state plasmas
• Improving the magnetic configuration
• Solving the plasma-material interface challenges
• Developing the engineering sciences that enable
  fusion power
• Themes 2-5 defined in Greenwald and TAP reports

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Strategic Plan Overview (5)

• Theme 1Understanding the burning plasma state in
  ITER
• To ensure ITERs success and maximize the benefit
  of U.S. participation in the project, the U.S.
  will continue to take a leadership role in
  resolving outstanding scientific issues facing
  the project.
• To be well prepared to use ITER effectively,
  continuing research to improve our predictive
  capability for burning plasmas is needed.
• The U.S. will consider collaborating in the test
  blanket module programs of other ITER parties
• Engineering and management excellence are clearly
  critical to the success of ITER the U.S. has
  been a leader among the ITER Members in
  organizing its domestic preparations for
  construction and in promoting innovative
  solutions to ITERs unique management challenges
• Preparations for ITER operation include
  maintaining a world-class workforce through
  continued funding for training of graduate
  students and post doctoral scientists

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Strategic Plan Overview (6)

• Achieving Strategic Goal 1 (continued)
• OFES will explore a range of additional research
  activities to promote the burning plasma campaign
  on ITER (Theme 1) and to attack the broader set
  of issues identified by FESAC (Themes 2
  through 5). Possible research campaigns include
• Predictive fusion plasma simulation
• Integrated advanced burning plasma physics
  demonstration
• Integrated exploration of plasma-wall
  interactions and plasma facing components
• Advanced research on stable, steady-state
  concepts
• Engineering and materials physics modeling and
  experimental validation
• Materials development and qualification
• Fusion engineering science
• OFES will carry out workshops to evaluate these
  activities to assess what facilities are required
  to carry them out
• OFES will also explore opportunities for
  international collaborations

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Strategic Plan Overview (7)

• Strategic Goal 2 Plasma Science
• OFES is the primary federal steward of the
  related fields of plasma physics and high energy
  density laboratory plasmas and is responsible for
  advancing fundamental understanding of the
  properties of these unique states of matter
• OFES will support research programs in the
  fundamental properties of plasmas, plasma
  confinement in external fields, inertial fusion
  energy sciences, non-mission-driven high-energy
  density plasma science, and low-temperature
  plasma science and engineering by spanning the
  full breadth of plasma research, OFES is
  well-positioned to promote strong linkages
  between basic plasma science and fusion energy
  research
• The plan includes three research themes to
  advance plasma science
• Increasing fundamental understanding of basic
  plasma science, including low temperature plasma
  science and engineering
• Understanding the underlying properties of
  magnetized plasmas
• Advancing the fundamental science of high energy
  density plasmas by leveraging DOE investments in
  major facilities

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Strategic Plan Overview (8)

• Achieving Strategic Goal 2
• Research Theme 1--Increasing fundamental
  understanding of basic plasma science, including
  low temperature plasma science and engineering
• OFES will determine the high impact areas of
  basic plasma science and underlying disciplines,
  such as atomic physics, and will engage the
  research communities in these areas through
  openly competed solicitations (joint with other
  agencies as appropriate)
• Research Theme 2--Understanding the underlying
  properties of magnetized plasmas
• OFES will support research the fundamental
  properties of plasmas in magnetic fields to
  increase our understanding of how the magnetic
  fields affect plasma behavior OFES will
  determine, through openly competed solicitations,
  what innovative facilities to build and what
  research projects to undertake

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Strategic Plan Overview (9)

• Achieving Strategic Goal 2 (continued)
• Research Theme 3. Advancing the fundamental
  science of high energy density plasmas by
  leveraging DOE investments in major facilities
• OFES has developed a joint program with NNSA in
  the area of HEDLP OFES and NNSA will issue
  joint solicitations and use competitive peer
  review to select research projects to advance our
  knowledge and modeling capabilities in HEDLP
  science, including heavy ion beams, warm dense
  matter, laboratory astrophysics, compressible and
  radiative hydrodynamics, laser-plasma interaction
  and high energy density plasma