Letter from George Miley

George Miley sent this out to a bunch of IEC fans recently. I think he meant it as a bit of protest at the 100's of billions being spent on the ITER which most likely won't work, instead of the 100's of millions necessary to fund the IEC, which most likely would.

"Hi Mark and all – Happy New Year.

I would like to attend fusion day this year since the timing is very crucial as you say. However, prior commitments will prevent it.

I do have some comments about the topics you mention

1- At the FPA meeting in Dec Steve Koonin stated that fusion must move from science to engineering/tech development to have relevance in the energy crisis. He cited the NIF ignition in 1-2yrs as the signal for this chance. I asked “why wait?”. Anyway, we need to keep this in mind in the discussions.

2- As you know, I am very concerned about the alternate approach (ICC [IEC?]) funding and the US base program which have taken a big hit in recent time. I would personally argue that we we should stress the need for rebuilding this.

3- What about the fusion-fission hybrid based on the recent DOE workshop? Wonder what this is?

Just food for thought and discussion –

Regards,

George



George H. Miley
Professor, UIUC
103 S. Goodwin ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
217-3333772
ghmiley@uiuc.edu



From: Haynes, Mark [mailto:Mark.Haynes@ga.com]
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 4:09 PM
To: a bunch o' folks...



After consulting with the just-released Congressional calendar for 2010, it appears that the best date for Fusion Day
next year will be Thursday, February 11th.

As in the past, the day will begin with a breakfast at the Tortilla Coast restaurant on Capitol Hill, followed by meetings with your Congressional delegation, a straggle-in-when-you-can lunch in the Longworth House Office Building food court, and then more meetings with your Congressional delegation.

Several things make next year a very important one for the fusion program: the ramp up of serious component fabrication and construction on ITER, the National Ignition Campaign on NIF, the unknowns of the President’s FY11 budget request, the possibility for fusion legislation in the House Committee on Science and Technology and the potential to grow more substantial fusion nuclear sciences and IFE programs. In sum, Congress will likely be seeing and presiding over a lot of change in the program in the next few years and the broader and deeper the understanding of these things, the better.

That’s where your participation in Fusion Day comes in. Those who have attended this day can testify to its importance as a means of informing Congress of the importance of fusion energy research and the issues facing it. Most (if not all) will tell you it’s a pretty interesting day and a pretty good time to boot.

So, please save the date on your calendar and plan to attend. As the date approaches, we will send you additional information. Meanwhile, let any of us know if you have any questions about the day or how to set up meetings with your delegation offices.

Chris Carter (Princeton U.) (202) 220-1365
Charlie Cooke (U of Texas) (202) 955-9091
Scott Kopple (Lawrence Livermore National Lab) (202) 947-6317
Paul Doucette (Battelle) (202) 646-7863
Abby Benson (MIT) (202) 789-1828
Mark Haynes (General Atomics) (202) 496-8209
Elizabeth Langdon-Gray (U of California) (202) 974-6310
David Sprenger (U of Colorado / Tech X) (703) 585-6810"