Sec. 8. Fusion energy
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The Director shall carry out a fusion energy sciences research program to expand the understanding of plasmas and matter at very high temperatures and densities and build the science and engineering foundation needed to develop a fusion energy source. The Secretary shall carry out a program of research and technology development in inertial fusion for energy applications, including ion beam, laser, and pulsed power fusion systems. The Director shall support research and development activities and facility operations to optimize the tokamak approach to fusion energy.
Section 972 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 16312 ) is amended by adding section the following new paragraph: There is authorized United States participation in the construction and operations of the ITER project, as agreed to under the April 25, 2007 Agreement on the Establishment of the ITER International Fusion Energy Organization for the Joint Implementation of the ITER Project. . The Secretary shall ensure that the mission-oriented user facility will enable the study of a burning plasma, and shall be built to have the following characteristics in its full configuration:
A tokamak device with a plasma radius of 6.2 meters and a magnetic field of 5.3 T. Capable of creating and sustaining a 15-million-Ampere plasma current for greater than 300 seconds. From within funds authorized to be appropriated under section 11 of the Department of Energy Science and Innovation Act of 2018 , for Fusion Energy Sciences, there is authorized for in-kind contributions under this section— $122,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and $163,000,000 for fiscal year 2019.
From within funds authorized to be appropriated under section 11 of the Department of Energy Science and Innovation Act of 2018 , for Fusion Energy Sciences, there is authorized for cash contributions under this section— $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2019. . The Director shall support research and development activities for inertial fusion for energy applications. As part of the program described in subsection (a), the Director shall support research and development activities and facility operations at United States universities, national laboratories, and private facilities for a portfolio of alternative and enabling fusion energy concepts that may provide solutions to significant challenges to the establishment of a commercial magnetic fusion power plant, prioritized based on the ability of the United States to play a leadership role in the international fusion research community.
Fusion energy concepts and activities explored under this paragraph may include— high magnetic field approaches facilitated by high temperature superconductors; advanced stellarator concepts; non-tokamak confinement configurations operating at low magnetic fields; magnetized target fusion energy concepts; liquid metals to address issues associated with fusion plasma interactions with the inner wall of the encasing device; immersion blankets for heat management and fuel breeding; advanced scientific computing activities; and other promising fusion energy concepts identified by the Director.
The Under Secretary and the Director shall coordinate with the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (in this paragraph referred to as ARPA–E ) to— assess the potential for any fusion energy project supported by ARPA–E to represent a promising approach to a commercially viable fusion power plant; determine whether the results of any fusion energy project supported by ARPA–E merit the support of follow-on research activities carried out by the Office of Science; and avoid unintentional duplication of activities.
The Director shall coordinate with the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (referred to in this subsection as ARPA–E ) to— assess the potential for any fusion energy project supported by ARPA–E to represent a promising approach to a commercially viable fusion power plant; determine whether the results of any fusion energy project supported by ARPA–E merit the support of follow-on research activities carried out by the Office of Science; and avoid the unintentional duplication of activities.
Section 33 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 ( 42 U.S.C. 2053 ) is amended by inserting before the first sentence the following: In this section, with respect to international research projects, the term . private facilities or laboratories means facilities or laboratories located in the United States. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the fusion energy research and development activities that the Department proposes to carry out over the 10-year period following the date of the report under not fewer than 3 realistic budget scenarios, including a scenario based on 3-percent annual growth in the non-ITER portion of the budget for fusion energy research and development activities.
The report required under subparagraph
(A)shall— identify specific areas of fusion energy research and enabling technology development, including activities to advance inertial and alternative fusion energy concepts, in which the United States can and should establish or solidify a lead in the global fusion energy development effort; identify priorities for initiation of facility construction and facility decommissioning under each of the three budget scenarios described in subparagraph (A); and assess the ability of the fusion workforce of the United States to carry out the activities identified under clauses
(i)and (ii), including the adequacy of programs at institutions of higher education in the United States to train the leaders and workers of the next generation of fusion energy researchers. In order to develop the report required under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall leverage best practices and lessons learned from the process used to develop the most recent report of the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel of the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel. No member of the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee shall be excluded from participating in developing or voting on final approval of the report required under paragraph (1)(A).
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