MIT’s Alcator C-Mod slated to be terminated under President’s budget

On April 10, the President released his budget for fiscal year 2014. While there is much to dig into, let’s take a quick look at the numbers for fusion energy, which were not good.

On the magnetic fusion side, funding comes from the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES), which falls under the Office of Science in the Department of Energy. For FY14, the President is requesting $458 million, an increase of about $57 million over FY12 numbers.  Within that total $458 million, contributions to ITER rise to $225 million, up from $105 million in FY12.  Given this large jump in support for ITER, the domestic fusion program suffers a cut from $296 million in FY12 to $233 million, a 21% decline.

ITER is a key step in commercializing fusion energy. It will set the stage for a full-scale demonstration power plant. However, the U.S. domestic fusion program is complimentary to the ITER effort, and their work is intertwined. The U.S. needs a robust domestic program in order to make ITER a success. Taking money from one to fund the other does damage to the fusion effort as a whole.

Cuts to the domestic program will result in the termination of the Alcator C-Mod facility at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, according to the President’s request. Shuttering the MIT facility would do irreparable harm to the domestic fusion program, as MIT’s research plays a critical role in solving some of the difficult engineering challenges for fusion energy, such as plasma confinement.

Moreover, MIT’s Alcator C-Mod trains the fusion scientists of tomorrow. MIT has already had to stop admitting new graduate students, and the closure of the facility would force some of America’s brightest minds to look for work abroad. This would mark the beginning of the decline of America’s lead in training a world class human workforce in plasma physics and fusion sciences.

The NIF

On the inertial side, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) also faces a cut in the President’s budget. His plan calls for taking more money out of fusion research and dedicating it to weapons research; essentially reorienting a bit of the mission of the NIF towards more weapons research. Overall, the President’s budget calls for reducing funding for the NIF, which would decline from $474 million to $401 million in FY14, a 15% cut.

The cut is a setback for a program that holds great potential in commercializing fusion energy. Researchers at the NIF already have plans for a demonstration power plant – Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE). As the leading inertial fusion research facility in the world, the NIF is at the forefront of understanding in fusion energy. The facility’s work has already led to a variety of spinoff innovations, including in optics, robotics, supercomputers, and advanced manufacturing techniques.

As ASP has written previously, fusion energy is one of the most challenging science and engineering endeavors the U.S. has ever undertaken. Achieving milestones is difficult, but cutting support only ensures their further delay.

While the President’s budget makes valuable investments in other sources of clean energy – which is absolutely essential – the lack of commitment to commercializing fusion energy is disappointing.

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