Whither the ARIES Industrial Advisory Committee? ARIES Meeting 21 Januay, 2009 ARIES Meeting 21 Januay, 2009

ARIES Charter is unchanged: What do we need to do to go from ITER to an attractive power plant?  What are the remaining major R&D areas? What are the data bases needed to field a commercial power plant (e.g., licensing, operation, reliability, etc.)? What is the impact of each R&D item on the attractiveness of the final product. (metrics for prioritization of R&D).  Which of the remaining major R&D areas can be explored in existing devices or simulation facilities (i.e., fission reactors)?  What other major facilities are needed (CTF, Fast track, etc.) What are the possible embodiments for CTF and what are the their cost/performance attributes. These are detailed technical issues, not general policy issues or technology acceptance issues to which outside advisors could meaningfully contribute  What are the remaining major R&D areas? What are the data bases needed to field a commercial power plant (e.g., licensing, operation, reliability, etc.)? What is the impact of each R&D item on the attractiveness of the final product. (metrics for prioritization of R&D).  Which of the remaining major R&D areas can be explored in existing devices or simulation facilities (i.e., fission reactors)?  What other major facilities are needed (CTF, Fast track, etc.) What are the possible embodiments for CTF and what are the their cost/performance attributes. These are detailed technical issues, not general policy issues or technology acceptance issues to which outside advisors could meaningfully contribute

Logical Questions:  Can an advisory committee be useful to ARIES Pathways? No. Outside advisors aren’t knowledgeable enough to be of value.  Do we need an advisory committee enough to spend the time, effort and money necessary to make it happen? No.  What type of committee do we need? Outside utility/industry types? No. Inside senior guru types? Maybe as reviewers of our final recommendations.  Has DOE weighed in on any of this? ??  What do we want a committee to do? At most, we could use knowledgeable fusion experts to review our recommendations.  How do we get from where we are now (with an IAC of outside folks, but one that's dead in the water) to where we want to go? Thank the IAC for their help When we have something to review, ask a few senior fusion folks to review it  Can an advisory committee be useful to ARIES Pathways? No. Outside advisors aren’t knowledgeable enough to be of value.  Do we need an advisory committee enough to spend the time, effort and money necessary to make it happen? No.  What type of committee do we need? Outside utility/industry types? No. Inside senior guru types? Maybe as reviewers of our final recommendations.  Has DOE weighed in on any of this? ??  What do we want a committee to do? At most, we could use knowledgeable fusion experts to review our recommendations.  How do we get from where we are now (with an IAC of outside folks, but one that's dead in the water) to where we want to go? Thank the IAC for their help When we have something to review, ask a few senior fusion folks to review it

ARIES doesn’t need an Advisory Committee -- but Fusion may….  ARIES knows what to do and how to do it to complete our task  We could -- should -- get senior fusion folks in to review our results (before they’re cast in stone)  The challenge is implementing our conclusions  How do we get the Fusion Program, the DOE and indeed the Nation off of dead center to do what ARIES can plan? Wait for an external event? Enlist Dale’s “ARIES Program Advisory Committee of Energy Policy Makers” to help develop a community consensus (ala High Energy Physics) and then a national mandate for doing the first steps ARIES has defined?  ARIES knows what to do and how to do it to complete our task  We could -- should -- get senior fusion folks in to review our results (before they’re cast in stone)  The challenge is implementing our conclusions  How do we get the Fusion Program, the DOE and indeed the Nation off of dead center to do what ARIES can plan? Wait for an external event? Enlist Dale’s “ARIES Program Advisory Committee of Energy Policy Makers” to help develop a community consensus (ala High Energy Physics) and then a national mandate for doing the first steps ARIES has defined?

Could ARIES lead the development of a consensus to take the next steps?  ARIES has helped the fusion community to accept promising technical directions  Can we convince the fusion program players to adopt our recommended path forward? Any plan will not satisfy everyone Real progress will need real money  Could an “ARIES Program Advisory Committee of Energy Policy Makers” help?  The task is daunting Competition with nearer term energy sources Is fusion ready to move faster than ITER? Could we get the fusion community to agree? Does DOE want our help?  ARIES has helped the fusion community to accept promising technical directions  Can we convince the fusion program players to adopt our recommended path forward? Any plan will not satisfy everyone Real progress will need real money  Could an “ARIES Program Advisory Committee of Energy Policy Makers” help?  The task is daunting Competition with nearer term energy sources Is fusion ready to move faster than ITER? Could we get the fusion community to agree? Does DOE want our help?