Private Fusion Research: Opportunities and Challenges in Plasma Science
Recent years have seen a dramatic growth in privately funded fusion activities, which, in the U.S., are now at a scale comparable to the government sponsored program. Work in the private sector has been built on the solid foundations laid down by years of publicly funded research but now offers the potential to expand the field in new directions with a sharp focus on energy applications. This special topic is intended to explore future directions for fusion and plasma science in light of the expansion of private fusion research. Manuscripts should be prepared as “Perspectives,” allowing authors to provide “unique views on where the field is headed and promising strategies for progress.” Instructions for preparation of Perspectives articles are online: https://aip.scitation.org/php/authors/perspective. They should describe a significant contribution to the ongoing dialog and help researchers take the maximum advantage of the opportunities that this new circumstance offers.
Topics covered include, but are not limited to:
- Changes in research emphasis driven by the increased focus and urgency for the fusion energy mission.
- Recent scientific and technological advances that have attracted private funds.
- Identification of particular scientific/technical areas where private entities would like to see more basic research including the role of national user facilities or major code development efforts.
- Identifying the opportunities for the public program to enhance scientific output of private facilities and what would the “rules of engagement” be for such efforts?
- How will private fusion efforts support the critical areas of student training and workforce development?
- Describing appropriate roles and areas of emphasis for private and public plasma physics research including a discussion of the contrasting or complementary interactions between private and public funding and how they can accelerate progress.
- The anticipated or desired evolution of those roles as industry efforts mature toward deployment of commercial fusion systems.
- The role of peer review, peer evaluation and scientific journals in the private efforts.
Guest Editors
David Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Type One Energy Group
Martin Greenwald, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Uri Shumlak, University of Washington and Zap Energy
Confirmed Invited Authors
Both invited and contributed manuscripts to the Special Topic on Private Fusion Research: Opportunities and Challenges in Plasma Science are welcome for submission.
Confirmed invited authors include:
Richard Buttery, General Atomics
Debbie Callahan, Focused Energy
Ian Chapman, UKAEA/STEP
David Gates, Princeton Stellarators
Hiroshi Gota, TAE
Chris Hegna, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Type One Energy Group
David Kingham, Paul Thomas, and Mikhail Gryaznevic, Tokamak Energy
Michel Laberge, General Fusion
Ben Levitt, Zap Energy
Harry McLean, LLNL
Tom Mehlhorn, HB11
Dennis Whyte and Bob Mumgaard, MIT and CFS
Michael Zarnstorff, PPPL and Stellarex
Submission Instructions
Manuscripts considered for publication in Physics of Plasmas are expected to meet the journal’s standard of acceptance and undergo peer review. All manuscripts should bring to focus plasma physics, applications of plasma and fusion technologies, and closely related topics, including:
- Validated theory and predictive models – Especially developments leading to tools that can be used for machine design and operation
- Experimental research with application or relevance to fusion energy
- Plasma control
- Diagnostics – especially for machine control in a fusion environment
- Heating and current drive including fusion compatible antennas or launching structures
- Strategies and tools for managing off-normal events
- Plasma-material interactions – especially in a fusion environment
The Editors of Physics of Plasmas will issue final decisions on the submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts will publish in an issue after acceptance and collected together with a Preface prepared by the Guest Editors to highlight this important and timely area. For more information, please visit the journal’s editorial policies page.
Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system (PXP). Please select the Special Topic “Private Fusion Research: Opportunities and Challenges in Plasma Science” to submit your manuscript for consideration in this Special Topic.
Submissions to this Special Topic are open to invited and contributed researchers. Please select “YES-INVITED” during the submission process only if you have been personally invited to submit from the Guest Editors.