Snowmass Assessment of FIRE

The 2002 Fusion Summer Study was conducted from July 8-19, 2002, in Snowmass, Colorado, and carried out a critical assessment of major next-steps in the fusion energy sciences program in both Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE) and Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). The conclusions of this study were based on analysis led by over 60 conveners working with hundreds of members of the fusion energy sciences community extending over 8 months. This effort culminated in two weeks of intense discussion by over 250 US and 30 foreign fusion physicists and engineers present at the 2002 Fusion Summer Study. The objectives of the Fusion Summer Study were three-fold: • Review the scientific issues in burning plasmas, address the relation of burning plasma in tokamaks to innovative MFE confinement concepts, and address the relation of ignition in IFE to integrated research facilities. • Provide a forum for critical discussion and review of proposed MFE burning plasma experiments (IGNITOR, FIRE, and ITER) and assess the scientific and technological research opportunities and prospective benefits of these approaches to the study of burning plasmas. • Provide a forum for the IFE community to present plans for prospective integrated research facilities, assess the present status of the technical base for each, and establish a timetable and technical progress necessary to proceed for each.