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*	U N I V E R S I T Y  F U S I O N  A S S O C I A T I O N
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*	News and Information			Aug 21, 2003
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	website:	http://depts.washington.edu/ufa/home.html


CONTENTS:

	1. Fusion Budget Status
	2. DOE Solicitation for Fusion Science Centers


// ---------------------------------------------------------------------- //
	1. Fusion Budget Status
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------- //

The House and the Senate are in the August recess.  Before the recess, the
House Appropriation mark for Fusion Energy Sciences was $268M while the
Senate stands at $257M, at the level of the President's request.  House
and Senate language is appended below.  Conference is expected in
September.  More detail is provided in a recent email from Mark Haynes,
attached to this email.


Senate
======

FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES

Appropriations, 2003  ..................................$248,375,000
Budget Estimate, 2004  .................................$257,310,000
Committee recommendation................................$257,310,000

The Committee recommendation for fusion energy sciences is
$257,310,000, an amount that is equal to the budget request.

The fusion energy sciences program supports research emphasizing the
underlying basic research in plasma and fusion sciences, with the
long-term goal of harnessing fusion as a viable energy source.

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - The Committee
recommendation includes the budget request of $1,990,000 to allow the
Department to enter multilateral international negotiations aimed at
building the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a
burning plasma physics experiment many view as an essential next step
toward eventually developing fusion as a commercially viable energy
source.  Reasonably conservative estimates suggest that the United
States' participation in ITER will require approximately $1,500,000,000
over the next 10 years in direct contributions to the construction of
ITEr and in supporting science.  The Department's request of less than
$2,000,000 in direct support of the ITER project for fiscal year 2004
certainly leads the Committee to question the Department's commitment
to supporting ITER without prejudice or damage to alternative fusion
technologies, much less other Departmental science programs.

The Department's proposed fiscal year 2004 budget proposes to cut
severely long-term activities in fusion technology and advanced design
that will have significant impact on the ultimate attractiveness of
fusion power.  The Committee recommends that, within available funds,
the Department should make adjustments to redress the imbalance
resulting from these cuts.


House
=====

"FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES

"The Committee recommendation for fusion energy sciences is $268,110,000,
an increase of $10,800,000 over the budget request.  The Committee is
cautiously supportive of the Administration's proposal to re-engage in the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, but is
disappointed that the budget request provides $12,000,000 in funding for
the U.S. ITER effort only at the expense of displacing ongoing domestic
fusion research.  The additional $10,800,000 includes $4,000,000 for
burning plasma experiments, including support for ITER and for the
domestic FIRE project, $5,200,000 for fusion technology, and $1,600,000
for advanced design and analysis work.  If the Department intends to
recommend ITER participation in the fiscal year 2005 budget request, the
Committee expects the Department will do so without harm to domestic
fusion research or to other programs in the DOE Science budget."



// ---------------------------------------------------------------------- //
	2. DOE Solicitation for Fusion Science Centers
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------- //

The DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) has issued a call for
proposals for Fusion Science Centers.  In a 2001 NRC Report, "An
Assessment of the Department of Energy's Office of Fusion Energy Sciences
Program", http://fire.pppl.gov/fusac_2001_color.pdf, Recommendation 4 of
the NRC Panel was "Several new centers, selected through a competitive,
peer-review process and devoted to exploring the frontiers of fusion
science, are needed for both scientific and institutional reasons."

Program Notice 		- DE-FG01-03ER03-26
Letters-of-Intent 	- by October 15, 2003
Preliminary Applications- November 14, 2003
Formal applications	- March 1, 2004.

This notice has been posted on the Grants and Contracts website and may be
accessed at the following address:
http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/Fr03-26.html
 .  The Program Notice has
also been posted in the DOE Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS)
which can be accessed at the following address:  http://e-center.doe.gov/