Title: OFES Perspective
1OFES Perspective
Presentation to FESACJanuary 13, 2009
- Stephen Eckstrand, Acting
- Associate Director of Science
- for Fusion Energy Sciences
- 301-903-4941
2Outline
- Solicitation Status
- OFES Status
- NSTX Upgrade Project
- ITER Update
- Strategic Planning Activities
- Strategic Plan Overview
3OFES Solicitation Status and Schedule
4OFES 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
5National 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)
6ITER 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
7ITER 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
8ITER 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
9Strategic 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
10Strategic 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
11Strategic 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
12Strategic 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
13Strategic 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
14Strategic 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
15Strategic 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
16Strategic 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
17Strategic 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
18Strategic 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