The Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences program announced last month it is soliciting proposals for projects dedicated to inertial fusion energy (IFE). For decades DOE has supported research into inducing fusion by compressing small hydrogen fuel targets, but it has done so through its nuclear weapons program. Interest in funding R&D on energy generation has compounded in the wake of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s achievement last year of ignition in a laser fusion experiment.
The department expects to award a total of $45 million in grants through its solicitation, creating a series of IFE Science and Technology Innovation Hubs that will each receive between $2 million and $4 million annually over four years. DOE leaders have cautioned that it will likely take decades to determine whether IFE can be a practical power source, and its solicitation accordingly stipulates that hub proposals focus on foundational research.
The IFE initiative is part of a larger pivot the Fusion Energy Sciences program is making to pave the way for building a pilot power plant. For instance, the program is ramping up support for private fusion ventures through a new “milestone-based” funding initiative. That effort just awarded eight grants supporting concepts for a pilot fusion plant, including two IFE concepts, with the promise of larger sums as the companies receiving grants make progress. Given the direction of recent negotiations over federal spending, however, it is questionable how much money Congress will provide going forward.
To read more, click here.