Abstract :

The U.S. fusion technology program is a growing effort as we move towards ITER and fusion energy, with pockets of leadership in disruption mitigation and fusion materials among other areas.  The current status of the U.S. fusion nuclear science program will be presented, highlighting work from the previous two years including contributions culminating in the report, Transformative Enabling Capabilities for Efficient Advance Toward Fusion Energy.  The program is looking to the future as the December 2018 release of the U.S. National Academies publication, Final Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research, highlighted the need for significant growth in fusion nuclear science.  An evolving plan on how this increase in funding could be used to construct an impactful program will be discussed.  Finally, fusion is not the only field experiencing transformative changes.  Efforts at ORNL to bring advanced manufacturing into fission will be discussed, including a new demonstration small-scale reactor.  The knowledge gained in this project will undoubtedly have applications for the design of high heat flux components for fusion energy.