CHAMPIONS OF PLASMA PHYSICS: A recent gathering at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) to mark passage by the House of Representatives of a bill to restore future funding included (from left): Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen; Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman; Representative Rush Holt; Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu; and PPPL Director Stewart Prager. (Photo by Elle Starkman, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)

The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent vote to restore $76 million for fusion energy research was the occasion of a visit by Congressmen Rush Holt (D-12) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11) to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

President Obama’s budget request for FY2013 of $398 million sought to reduce funding for domestic and international fusion efforts. Mr. Holt, a former assistant director of the PPPL, led 48 bipartisan members of Congress in writing to House leaders, including Mr. Frelinghuysen, who is chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, to request that funding be restored.

“Clean energy is an area in which our government can ill-afford to fall behind,” the bipartisan coalition wrote in their letter. “We will cede further advantage to countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union, all of which are pursuing substantially more aggressive fusion programs than our own.”

The House’s vote on final passage of the bill that was created in response to the letter was 266 to 165. The bill will now go to the Senate. Mr. Holt and Mr. Frelinghuysen have called upon the Senate to act to ensure that these research funds are signed into law.

“Fusion research is key to America’s energy future, and we are proud to have this important work in New Jersey,” said Mr. Holt at the event, which was hosted by PPPL director Stewart Prager and Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman, and attended by many PPPL staff members. It took place at the construction site of the National Spherical Torus Experiment Test Cell (NSTX), which is undergoing regular upgrades.

The NSTX, which began operation in 1999, is a major element in the U.S. Fusion Energy Sciences Program. Designed and built jointly by PPPL, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Columbia University, and the University of Washington, Seattle, it is, according to Mr. Prager, “the best of its kind in the world.”

In addition to advancing this country’s understanding of plasma physics, PPPL’s work is integral to the work of ITER (“the way”), an international collaboration of scientists and engineers. ITER is expected to eventually produce 500 million watts of fusion power.

Without the funding, PPPL will face severe cutbacks on crucial research projects and staff reductions of as many as 100 persons, including scientists, engineers, and lab technicians. “It is ironic that this laboratory continues to struggle for funding when the promise and progress of fusion energy research is as great as it has been at any time,” observed Mr. Holt.

“If you look around us today, you’ll see workers in lab coats, workers in suits, and workers in jeans and hardhats — in other words, a broad cross-section of the New Jersey workforce. All of these jobs, and all of their crucial research, are placed at risk by efforts to cut basic research.”

“Faced with unsustainable budget deficits, we are making difficult funding decisions,” Mr. Frelinghuysen said. “But I will be working with my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that the PPPL’s cutting-edge research to create alternative sources of energy moves forward.” Asked when the Senate might act on the bill, however, Mr. Frelinghuysen commented that “it’s always a mystery to me how the Senate takes up its priorities.” Responding to a question about the source of the restored funds, he said that he didn’t “think the money came out of some other program.”

“Fusion energy is an investment the country must make in the future,” said Ms. Tilghman. “We are enormously proud of this laboratory.”

“We are delighted to host Representatives Rodney Frelinghuysen and Rush Holt at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory,” said Mr. Prager. “They are remarkable champions of science and possess a profound understanding of science and its enormous benefits to society. The funding bill they both fought for is exceedingly important for the advancement of fusion energy, paving the way for new pathways for the U.S. I can’t overstate our gratitude.”

Just a few days after the event, Mr. Holt accepted the Legislator of the Year Award from the New Jersey Veterans of Foreign Wars, the New Jersey branch of one of America’s largest organizations of combat veterans.