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UNIVERSITY FUSION ASSOCIATION
http://depts.washington.edu/ufa
E-mail Newsletter
August 1, 2008
sent by S. Knowlton, UFA President
***************************************************************
Items:
1. OFES AD Fonck resigns today
2. Program news
3. Summary of Feb. University Initiatives informal meeting
4. Announcement of Plasma Science Centers RFP
***************************************************************
1. OFES AD Fonck resigns
Citing the consideration of personal and professional reasons,
Raymond Fonck announced that he will resign his position of Associate
Director (AD) of OFES, effective by COB today. An acting AD has been
named from one of the current OFES staff, and the person's name will
be officially released by Monday. The statement released by Fonck is
copied below:
Dear members of the U.S. fusion energy sciences research community:
I will be leaving my post as Associate Director of the Office of
Science for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES), effective
Friday August 1, 2008, to resume my position as a professor in the
Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin.
The Office of Science will be proceeding with the search for a new
permanent Associate Director of Science for the OFES. We expect the
position to be posted for application within 4-6 weeks, and any
suggestions you may have for candidates for this position are
strongly encouraged and appreciated. Please feel free to send your
suggestions to Dr. Patricia Dehmer, Deputy Director for Science
Programs, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
(<mailto:patricia.dehmer@science.doe.gov>).
The formal announcement of the solicitation for application for the
Associate Director position will be sent out soon.
I would like to thank all members of the U.S. fusion research
community for your scientific work and dedication to the program. It
has been gratifying to see the enthusiasm everyone brings to their
research efforts. As you know, it has been a busy time for fusion and
plasma sciences over the past year, and we obviously have many
challenges coming in the near future. The ITER project is moving
forward and establishing itself as the international focus of
magnetic fusion research, and we can be proud that the U.S. community
has made strong contributions to the ITER design efforts. The Office
of Science is working hard to secure future support for U.S.
participation in ITER. In addition, the program has embarked on a
long-term planning exercise for all areas of science covered by the
OFES, including magnetic fusion energy sciences, plasma sciences,
high energy density laboratory physics and energy-related high energy
density sciences. These efforts will chart new directions for the
program for the coming decade and more. While all this is going on,
the community continues to produce excellent and exciting results to
move our sciences forward.
Thank you for all of your support.
Ray Fonck
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Raymond J. Fonck, Associate Director
Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, U.S. Department Of Energy
Office of Science, SC 24.1 GTN Building; 1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington D.C. 20585-1290
***************************************************************
Fonck's departure is a loss for the US fusion program,
especially at this crucial time in which he was active in
reorganizing activities and priorities within OFES and working hard
to ensure our commitment to ITER. The university community has also
lost an AD who, through his experience as a full-time faculty member
and former UFA president, fully comprehended the university role in
the evolving US fusion program. It is crucial that UFA members, as
well as all members of the US fusion research community, consider
potential candidates for the post of AD, and forward their names to
Deputy Director Patricia Dehmer, hopefully with a 2-sentence
justification, ASAP. Her e-mail address is listed in Fonck's message
above. In a phone conference on Friday, Fonck stated that the Office
of Science will try to move aggressively to identify leaders capable
of driving the program. DOE intends to hire a full-time government
employee (not an IPA) in this next round.
2. Program News
Fonck was to have announced his resignation at the FESAC
meeting next week, but that meeting was cancelled, effectively due to
the lack of a quorum. Prof. Stewart Prager, chair of FESAC, has
resigned because he has accepted the position of PPPL Director, and
will probably assume his new position in late winter or early spring.
A new chair must be appointed by the Undersecretary of DOE. Also,
the membership of FESAC is in flux with the 5 longest-serving members
rotating off, and 5 new members being appointed (but not yet
inducted). The anticipated date for the next meeting is 1-2 months
from now.
Recent information of the FY09 appropriations can be found in
blurbs from AIP (see http://www.aip.org/fyi/2008/078.html and
http://www.aip.org/fyi/2008/082.html, for example). Key excerpts are
copied below:
House Appropriations Bill for Office of Science:
FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES:
The current budget is $302.1 million.
The Administration's FY 2009 request was $493.1 million.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $499.1 million, an
increase of 65.2 percent or $197.0 million.
The draft committee report stated:
"The Committee provides $214,500,000 for the U.S. contribution to
ITER, as requested. The Committee recommendation includes
$24,636,000 for fusion energy sciences activities relevant to High
Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas, one of six integrated research
and development areas highlighted in the request. The Committee
supports the decision by the Department to terminate the National
Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) and provides $9,000,000 to
ensure orderly closeout of the project. The additional $6,000,000
above the request, as well as the funding which had been requested
for NCSX and is not required for closeout, are to be utilized by the
Department to help revitalize the domestic fusion energy sciences
program. Given the tremendous potential of fusion energy to provide
a long-term solution to our energy needs, this Committee believes it
is essential that the U.S. continue to playa leadership role in this
area. To this end, the Department is directed to provide the
Committee with a report no later than March 1, 2009 which describes
a bold, credible plan for a world-leading U.S. fusion program as
this area becomes an increasingly international endeavor."
Senate:
Note that the "current budget" figures include funding provided by
the recently-enacted supplemental appropriations bill.
OVERALL OFFICE OF SCIENCE:
The current budget is $4,035.6 million
The Administration's FY 2009 request was $4,722.0 million
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $4,861.7 million, an
increase of 20.5 percent or $826.1 million.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $4,640.5 million, an
increase of 15.0 percent or $604.9 million.
The Senate committee report stated:
The new funding "represents the single largest increase for any
program in the bill. From within available funds, the Office of
Science is directed to retain the Nation's existing capability to
produce a wide range of isotopes including californium-252.
Consistent with the cost-sharing requirements of Public Law 101-101
[FY 1990 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill], the
Department is directed to develop a cost recovery strategy to ensure
the long-term viability of this program."
.......
FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES:
The current budget is $302.1 million.
The Administration's FY 2009 request was $493.1 million.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $499.1 million, an
increase of 65.2 percent or $197.0 million.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $493.1 million, an
increase of 63.2 percent or $191.0 million.
The Senate committee report stated:
"The Committee understands the Department's difficult decision to
close the National Compact Stellarator Experiment [NCSX] project.
The fiscal year 2009 budget request included $20,342,000 for the
NCSX. The Department is directed to reallocate these funds as
proposed by the Department to the Committee under Scenario II. The
Committee understands this means approximately $9,000,000 will be
used for orderly closeout of NCSX, $9,250,000 will be used to
restore run times for three facilities and support major upgrade
work at NSTX, and $2,000,000 will be used to enhance non-NCSX
stellarator research. Recent advances in pulse power have renewed
interest in nuclear energy systems that utilize both fusion and
fission. The Committee directs the Department to work with
laboratories and industry to develop a systems concept that
identifies the challenges, opportunities and future research path of
such a fusion-fission hybrid system."
ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH:
The current budget is $351.2 million.
The Administration's FY 2009 request was $368.8 million.
The House Appropriations Committee recommended $378.8 million, an
increase of 7.9 percent or $27.6 million.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $368.8 million, an
increase of 5.0 percent or $17.6 million.
The Senate committee report stated:
"The Committee is concerned that the Department has limited
cooperation between the NNSA [National Nuclear Security
Administration] and DOE laboratories in supporting the advanced
computing architecture and algorithm development. The Committee
expects the Office of Science to continue to support joint research
through the Institute for Advanced Architecture and Advanced
Algorithms."
DOE earlier released a plan for spending the $62.5M it received under
the recently-enacted supplemental appropriations bill. The excerpt
for FES is copied below:
FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES: "+$15,500,000 over a prior FY 2008
appropriation of
FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES: "+$15,500,000 over a prior FY 2008
appropriation of
$286,548,000, for a revised total of $302,048,000"
ITER: "+$15,500,000 over a prior FY 2008 appropriation of
$10,626,000, for a revised total of $26,126,000." The statement
explains: "The highest priority of the Fusion Energy Sciences
program is the U.S. ITER Project." The Office of Science "has taken
steps to continue our participation in the project by preserving the
U.S. ITER core project team until additional funding can be made
available. The funding provided in the supplemental will eliminate
the need for furloughs and reductions in force resulting from the
reduced level of funding in the FY 2008 appropriations for the U.S.
Contributions to ITER project."
You'll note in the House bill that the House has directed OFES to
prepare a report describing a "bold, credible plan for a
world-leading U.S. fusion program as this area becomes an
increasingly international endeavor." While this report is due Mar.
1, 2009, Fonck says that the report must first be submitted to FESAC
and effectively completely by Jan. 1 in order to be signed off in
various offices. Because of the short time available, his intent is
to proceed with a high-level conceptual plan to be summarized from
recent and ongoing reports and charges, and leave further detailed
planning to the research needs workshops that are being planned.
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3. University Initiatives Meeting
Last Feb. 14-15, an informal workshop was held at MIT's
Plasma Science and Fusion Center to explore ideas emerging in
response to the "Orbach challenge" raised in his charge to FESAC that
led to the Greenwald Panel report issued last year. In his charge,
Orbach urged the fusion community to develop concepts for informative
new experiments to prepare for developing DEMO. This workshop was
organized by Dr. Amanda Hubbard of MIT as an initial exploration of
possible university-based ideas for experiments that could be pursued
as university consortia or university/lab collaborations. Her
summary of this workshop is attached to this newsletter.
I found the meeting to be a good start of a useful process in
which researchers described specific scientific and technical
research needs, and outlined potential machine embodiments. This
process should continue, and Amanda would appreciate comments and
suggestions in this vein (hubbard@psfc.mit.edu). The recent
cancellation of NCSX has eliminated an upcoming innovative, large US
experiment, so there exists an even larger gap in our capability to
address issues raised in the Greenwald panel report in new,
state-of-the-art facilities.
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4. Funding Opportunity Award for OFES-supported Plasma Science Centers.
Attached is a recent announcement calling for proposals for new
Plasma Science Centers. They should be of interest to university
researchers.
--
Stephen Knowlton, UFA president
Physics Department
Auburn University
Mailing Address: Phone: (334) 844-4685 (office); 844-2358 (lab)
206 Allison Laboratory FAX: (334) 844-6917
Auburn University E-mail: knowlton@physics.auburn.edu
Auburn, AL 36849-5311
Officers and Executive Committee 2008
_________________________________
Executive Committee Institution e-mail Term End
David Meyhoffer Rochester ddm@lle.rochester.edu 2009
Uri Shumlak U Washington shumlak@aa.washington.edu 2009
Matt Stoneking Lawrence stonekim@lawrence.edu 2009
David Anderson U Wisconsin dtanders@facstaff.wisc.edu 2010
John Cary U Colorado cary@colorado.edu 2010
Darren Garnier Columbia dg276@columbia.edu 2010
Amanda Hubbard MIT hubbard@psfc.mit.edu 2010
Max Austin U Texas max.austin@mail.utexas.edu 2011
Bill Dorland U Maryland bdorland@ipr.umd.edu 2011
Mark Gilmore U New Mexico gilmore@ece.unm.edu 2011
Zhihong Lin UC Irvine zhihongl@uci.edu 2011
Officers:
Stephen Knowlton (President) Auburn University knowlton@physics.auburn.edu 2009
George Tynan (Vice-President) UCSD gtynan@ucsd.edu 2009
Michael Brown (Secretary-Treasurer) Swarthmore College doc@swarthmore.edu 2009