FESAC panel to focus on DEMO

The US Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC), which advises the US Government on its policy on developing fusion energy, will start focussing on DEMO, the demonstration fusion power plant envisaged to be constructed after ITER. At a recent meeting, the FESAC was charged with "identifying issues arising in a path to DEMO, with ITER as a central part of that effort". FESAC is chaired by Stewart Prager of the University of Wisconsin. FESAC was asked to "identify and prioritize the broad scientific and technical questions to be answered prior to a DEMO; to assess available means (inventory), including all existing and planned facilities around the world as well as theory and modelling, to address these questions; and to identify research gaps and how they may be addressed through new facility concepts, theory and modelling." FESAC established a panel, under the chairmanship of Martin Greenwald (MIT) to respond to this charge and to report back by October 1.