U.S. Burning Plasma Organization Activities

The national U.S. Burning Plasma Organization (USBPO) was formed to provide an umbrella structure in the U.S. fusion science research community. Its main purpose is the coordination of research activities in the U.S. program relevant to burning plasma science and preparations for participation in the international ITER experiment. This grant provided support for the continuing development and operations of the USBPO in its first years of existence. A central feature of the USBPO is the requirement for broad community participation in and governance of this effort. We concentrated on five central areas of activity of the USBPO during this grant period. These included: 1) activities of the Director and support staff in continuing management and development of the USBPO activity; 2) activation of the advisory Council; 3) formation and initial research activities of the research community Topical Groups; 4) formation of Task Groups to perform specific burning plasma related research and development activities; 5) integration of the USBPO community with the ITER Project Office as needed to support ITER development in the U.S