NASA Funding Effort

FFS Executive Director Eric J. Lerner is currently seeking NASA funding for focus fusion research.

He is consulting with James Dunn, director of NASA’s Center for Technology Commercialization.  NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory had funded focus fusion work up to 2001, when the Advanced Space Propulsion program was de-funded. Currently most of NASA’s advanced prolusion effort is centered on nuclear fission, not fusion. However, Dunn believes there may be some possibilities for renewed fusion effort.

Unfortunately, Congress has precluded the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program from funding research that would greatly aid focus fusion in 2005.  Last year, Lawrenceville Plasma Physics had narrowly missed getting a large grant for using the plasma focus as an intense x-ray source, research that strongly overlapped with that needed for focus fusion. NIST told Lerner that there was a good chance of being funding in the 2005 competition. However, Congress cut funds for ATP, eliminating the competition for this year.  The Program’s future in 2006 remains uncertain.

Clearly, one of the long-term goals of FFS must be to generate enough public support for focus fusion to start changing the priorities of government funding.