DT reaction U.S. Burning Plasma Organization

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The Burning Issues:
U.S. Burning Plasma Organization e-News


January 16, 2007
from Ray Fonck, USBPO Director


CONTENTS:


1) OFES Announcement of New USBPO Director

On Jan. 11, 2007, Thomas J. Vanek, Acting Associate Director for Fusion Energy Sciences in the DOE Office of Science, announced to community leaders that OFES has named Dr. James W. Van Dam (University of Texas) as the next Director of U.S. Burning Plasma Organization. His statement said:

"As most of you are aware, Professor Raymond J. Fonck announced his resignation as the Director of the U.S. Burning Plasma Organization (USBPO) at a community town hall meeting at the American Physical Society -Division of Plasma Physics meeting in November 2006. He indicated his interest in pursuing other opportunities in the program.

Pursuant to the USBPO Charter, its Council undertook a search process to present nominations for a new Director to OFES. Dr. Amanda Hubbard of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Council Vice-Chair, chaired the Search Committee of five members that was established by the USBPO Council. The community was asked to send names for a new Director to this search committee, and about 25 names were forwarded to the Committee by the community. The Committee narrowed the list initially to about seven names for more in-depth consideration, including solicitation of their ideas for the USBPO, and then forwarded three names to OFES for consideration.

The OFES reviewed the curriculum vitae and the statements of the three nominees forwarded by the nominees of the Committee, and asked Dr. Van Dam, who was one of the three Committee nominees, to be the next Director of the USBPO. Also, the U.S. ITER Project office concurred in the continued role of the new USBPO Director as the USIPO Chief Scientist. Dr. Van Dam is a well-respected fusion theorist who has been the Chair of the USBPO Council in addition to his other extensive career activities. ...

The transition from Professor Fonck to Dr. Van Dam is expected to occur on February 1, 2007. We look forward to working with Dr. Van Dam, and hope to receive your support."


2) USBPO Charter

In August 2006, a working group was formed by members of the USBPO Council to develop a formal Charter for the USBPO. Dr. George Tynan of the University of California, San Diego, chaired the group of five Council members. It developed a draft Charter to define policies and procedures for activities and governance of the USBPO. The USBPO Directorate and Council Chair also participated as ex-offico members.

The draft document was forwarded to the 21 members of the Research Committee for feedback and suggested revisions. The full Council approved a final draft during their videoconference on December 15, 2006.

The adopted USBPO Charter will be posted on the USBPO web site at http://burningplasma.org/organization.html. The bylaws have not been approved and will be posted at a later date.


3) Research Committee Retreat

Members of the Research Committee are currently participating in a three-session videoconference retreat to define procedures for conducting BPO research tasks. The expected outcome of this activity will include posted procedures for establishing and facilitating burning plasma research activities in the U.S. program. The approaches developed during this retreat will be communicated to the Council for consideration and inclusion in the USBPO By Laws. If you are interested in learning more about the retreat activities, please contact the leaders of the your Topical Group. A listing of the Topical Group leaders can be found at http://burningplasma.org/groups.html


4) ITER Working Groups

Dr. Norbert Holtkamp briefly described the ITER Design Review process in his talk at the APS/DPP meeting in Philadelphia (http://burningplasma.org/reference.html). Members of the USBPO may be especially interested in the activities of the Design Requirements and Physics Objectives Working Group. That group is composed of:

ITER D. Campbell, V. Chuyanov, and M. Shimada
China J. Li and Y. Liu
EU P. Barabaschi, A. Kaye, K. Lackner, G. Saibene and P. Thomas (Chairman)
S. Korea G. S. Lee
Japan Y. Kamada
Russia S. Konalov, N. Ivanov
United States R. Hawryluk and R. Stambaugh (ITPA)


Another Working Group of interest, the Heating and Current Drive Working Group, is listed below.

Neutral Beam WG ECH LHCD ICRF
ITER WG Assistant ArturoTanga N. Kobayashi B. Beaumont B. Beaumont
Members T. Bonicelli Denisov Gregory F. De_Marco A. Mukherjee
S. K. Mattoo K. Sakamoto Y. X. Wan Alain Becoulet
N. Lopez-Cardoso J. G. Kwak David Rasmussen
S. L. Rao P. K. Sharma
Members/Experts V. Antoni G. Saibene Alain Becoulet Timothy Bigelow
T. Jones R. Magne J-M Noterdaeme C. Gormezano
O. Kaneko M. Henderson S. Milora Joel Hosea
A. Chakraborty Joe Tooker Ronald Parker J-M Noterdaeme
Larry Grisham M. Thumm R. Koch
A. Krylov R. Sartori


We expect that the USBPO will be enlisted to address issues of concern to these groups, and will keep you informed as this situation evolves.