Mauel Co-Chairs National Academies Committee on Burning Plasma Research

The final report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research was released on December 13, 2018.

The National Academies press release stated, “Along with participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project – a large, international burning plasma experiment – the U.S. Department of Energy should start a national program of accompanying research and technology to build a compact pilot plant that produces electricity from fusion at the lowest possible capital cost, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report provides a strategic plan to guide implementation of the main recommendations.”

“We are seeing tremendous progress being made in the path to achieving fusion energy around the world,” said Prof. Michael E. Mauel, co-chair of the committee that authored the report. “Now is the right time for the U.S. to benefit from the investments in burning plasma research and take leadership in fusion energy.” (NAS News)

Online resources of the report are available at: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25331