Hearing of the Subcommittee on Energy of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Randy Weber, Hearing on the Future of U.S. Fusion Energy Research

Hearing

Good morning and welcome to today's Energy Subcommittee hearing.
Today, we will hear from a panel of experts on the status of U.S. fusion energy research and
discuss what we can do as a nation to advance this critical area of discovery science.

The goal of fusion research is to create a star here on earth and control it to the point that
we can convert its immense heat into electricity. Easy, right? In the center of stars like our
sun, extreme temperatures, pressures and gravitational conditions create a unique natural
environment for fusion to occur.

On earth, scientists push the boundaries of experimental physics in a number of ways to
duplicate these reactions, with the hopes of eventually generating fusion energy as power
we can use in everyday activities.

The potential benefits to society from a fusion reactor are beyond calculation; the fuel is
abundant and widely accessible, the carbon footprint is zero and the radioactive waste
concerns are minimal. Despite these incentives, fusion energy science remains one the most
challenging areas of experimental physics today.

Generally speaking -- and don't worry I'll leave the detailed explanation to our panel of
expert witnesses -- fusion energy science is the applied study of a plasma, or ionized gas, and
is dependent on three main conditions -- plasma temperature, density and confinement
time.

During this hearing, you'll hear terms like "Inertial Confinement" and "Tokamak." These are
different techniques and devices used by scientists to control these three quantities in their
experiments as they work to successfully generate fusion energy.

The Department of Energy (DOE) supports fusion research primarily through its Fusion Energy
Sciences (FES) program within the Office of Science. Domestically, it funds robust research
through its national labs and partnerships with industry.

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) pursues
ignition in the lab by using a high-energy laser to induce inertial fusion and provide critical
science for DOE's nuclear stockpile stewardship mission.

The DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a DOE user facility managed by General Atomics, is the
largest magnetic fusion facility in the United States. This program seeks to provide solutions tooperational issues that are critical to the success of tokamak-style fusion reactors like the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.

Considered the leading research initiative in fusion science, the ITER project is a major
international collaboration to design, build and operate a first-of-a-kind research facility to
achieve and maintain a successful fusion reaction in the lab.

Though located in France, ITER is also a U.S. research project. Over 80 percent of total U.S.
awards and obligations to ITER are carried out in the United States. As of December 2017, the
U.S. ITER organization has awarded more than $975 million in research and engineering
funding to approximately 600 U.S. laboratories, companies and universities.

The DOE's fiscal year 2019 budget request for ITER is $75 million, well below the required
commitment level to keep the project on track.

If enacted, this may result in damaging delays to the ITER project, and sends the wrong
message to the international fusion community about America's commitment to its
international agreements, and our leadership in science.

When determining the next steps for the domestic U.S. fusion energy program, we must
consider the importance of access to the ITER reactor for American researchers and
America's standing and credibility as a global scientific collaborator. If the U.S. is going to
lead the world in cutting edge science, we cannot take our commitments to our
international partners lightly.

I want to thank our accomplished panel of witnesses for their testimony today, and I look
forward to a productive discussion about this exciting area of research.

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