Administration Perspective on ITER and Fusion Energy

1
Administration Perspective on ITER and Fusion
Energy

• Patrick Looney
• Assistant Director
• Physical Science and Engineering
• Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Executive Office of the President
• May 5, 2003

2
Statement by the President

• I am pleased to announce that the United States
  will join ITER, an ambitious international
  research project to harness the promise of fusion
  energy. The results of ITER will advance the
  effort to produce clean, safe, renewable, and
  commercially-available fusion energy by the
  middle of this century. Commercialization of
  fusion has the potential to dramatically improve
  America's energy security while significantly
  reducing air pollution and emissions of
  greenhouse gases.
• The United States will be working with the
  United Kingdom, other European Union nations,
  Russia, China, Japan and Canada on the creation
  of ITER. Today, I am directing the Secretary of
  Energy to represent the United States at the
  upcoming ITER meetings in St. Petersburg, Russia.
  We welcome the opportunity to work with our
  partners to make fusion energy a reality.
• January 30, 2003

3
Remarks by the President on Energy Independence

• And as we -- and I believe we can lead the world
  for creating a market for hydrogen. We're also
  going to work to produce electricity and hydrogen
  through a process called fusion. Fusion is the
  same kind of nuclear reaction that produces --
  that powers the sun. The energy produced will be
  safe and clean and abundant. We've spent quite a
  bit of money, as the senators here will tell you,
  on whether or not fusion works. And we're not
  sure if it will be able to produce affordable
  energy for everyday use. But it's worth a try.
  It's worth a look. Because the promise is so
  great.
•  
• So the United States will work with Great
  Britain and several European nations, as well as
  Canada, Japan, Russia and China, to build a
  fusion test facility and create the largest and
  most advanced fusion experiment in the world. I
  look forward to working with Congress to get it
  funded. I know you all have considered this in
  the past. It's an incredibly important project to
  be a part of.
• February 6, 2003

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Elements of the ITER Decision

• This is energy science not an energy technology.
• The US is one player in fusion energy science.
• A burning plasma experiment is the crucial
  element missing from the world fusion energy
  science program
• ITER provides US scientists access to worlds
  most sophisticated burning plasma experiment.

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Elements of the ITER Decision

• If the US joins ITER it would not be as a lead
  player.
• The US is absolutely neutral on the issue of
  site.
• The US has no interest in hosting ITER.
• As construction does not begin until FY06, the
  decision will be overall budget neutral until
  FY06.

6
Elements of the ITER Decision

• There is not broader fusion energy initiative.
• There is no agreed upon fusion energy development
  timeline.
• The ITER decision will not imply endorsement of
  other fusion-related initiatives.

7
Next Steps

• Working on C-175 permission to negotiate. Needs
  to be completed now.
• Continue to maintain US neutrality on site.
• Look for definition on how the Fusion Energy
  Sciences program will evolve as we move toward
  the ITER-era.

8
Questions

• Do we know what scientific questions need to be
  addressed for fusion to be viewed as a viable
  (practical) energy source? How will we know we
  are there?
• Do we have a definition of the most critical
  scientific questions that need to be addressed
  over the coming decade? (is there a relative
  priority?)
• How does time-to-market development plan map
  onto a risk-weighted portfolio? Can we see a
  risk-weighted portfolio with stage-gates
  (milestones, deliverables, check points) within
  the time-to-market plan?
• Example Do we understand how the existing and
  planned (e.g. ITER) suite of facilities help to
  address critical scientific questions? Are there
  obvious gaps?

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