§9301 Congressional Findings and Declaration of Policy

Summary

Requires the United States to speed up research, development, and demonstration of magnetic fusion energy systems. Congress found that many conventional energy supplies will run low in the coming decades, that the country needs inexhaustible energy options ready before that happens, and that magnetic fusion is one of those long-term options. It says fusion work has made big progress, that more research and early engineering tests are needed, and that lack of money — not technology — is the main barrier. It calls for the federal government to push the program faster and to double funding within seven years, with a 25 percent increase in each of fiscal years 1982 and 1983. The policy is to accelerate the national magnetic fusion effort and set clear goals. Those goals include moving from research to commercial development, demonstrating engineering feasibility by the early 1990s and operating a fusion engineering device no later than 1990, having a fusion demonstration plant by the turn of the twenty-first century, and encouraging cooperation among government, universities, industry, national labs, and international partners. The policy also aims to involve U.S. industry, improve public understanding, and keep the United States as the world leader in magnetic fusion.