[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 11, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3549-S3550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 600. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Energy to cooperate in 
the international magnetic fusion burning plasma experiment, or 
alternatively to develop a plan for a domestic burning plasma 
experiment, for the purpose of accelerating the scientific 
understanding and development of fusion as a long term energy source; 
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, there should be no doubt that energy is 
vital to our economy and that it contributes to our wealth and strength 
as a nation. While it is true that human intelligence, a skilled 
workforce, and the human spirit are essential to our economy and to our 
future, without useable energy, these virtues are not, of themselves, 
tools to make a physical difference.
  As we look out decades and centuries into the future, determining 
whether we will have enough energy and finding

[[Page S3550]]

the sources from which we will get it are extremely important 
endeavors. Will we get our energy from oil or from coal? Will it come 
from solar collectors and wind farms? Will it come from nuclear 
fission? I submit that the answer we work to provide to this question 
today will have a profound effect on the future quality of life for our 
children and grandchildren. This is part of the reason why energy 
policy is so controversial. It is because the stakes are so high.
  Although fossil fuels will last for many decades yet--perhaps 
centuries--the reality is that we must begin to plan for the time when 
fossil fuels might not be so plentiful. Taken together, fossil fuels 
provide us with well over 70 percent of the energy we consume in this 
country. Much of that energy is imported. When you take oil, coal and 
natural gas out of the equation, what are our options for the long term 
future?
  The significant potential contributors to our energy picture that are 
not fossil fuels are likely to be nuclear, hydropower, renewables such 
as solar, wind and geothermal, and fusion energy. We must pursue all of 
these options as if our future depended on it, because it does. It is 
in this context, that I want to focus my colleagues' attention today on 
the subject of fusion energy.
  Fusion energy is the power of the sun and the stars and has been the 
subject of a decades-long research effort in the United States and 
around the world. The bad news is that the ultimate goal of practical 
fusion energy here on earth has proven to be far more difficult than 
the early pioneers of fusion research ever envisioned. But the good 
news is that there has been fantastic progress in the past decade, to 
the point where now there is almost no doubt that large excess amounts 
of fusion energy can be created in the laboratory. The question is: Can 
fusion energy be made practical and affordable?
  When proven practical, fusion will be capable of producing huge 
amounts of base-load energy for our cities and our economy with no air 
or water pollution. Its fuel is virtually inexhaustible. It cannot blow 
up or melt down. Perhaps most tantalizingly, given our present 
circumstances, no nation or region will have a monopoly because 
everyone will have the fuel--a common component of water.
  I am very proud today to stand with my good friend from California, 
Senator Feinstein and introduce the Fusion Development Act of 2003. The 
Fusion Development Act of 2003 is meant to hasten the day when we can 
answer the question of practical and affordable fusion energy in the 
affirmative.
  Last month, President Bush announced that the United States would be 
joining international negotiations on a major next step experiment on 
the road to fusion energy, known as the ITER project. One of the 
primary purposes of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of Energy 
to participate fully in this international magnetic fusion burning 
plasma experiment called ITER.
  ITER is intended to establish once and for all that magnetically-
controlled fusion energy reactions can produce power plant-sized 
amounts of fusion energy and establish the scientific basis for doing 
so. Further, ITER will demonstrate some of the technologies necessary 
to construct a fusion power plant such as large superconducting magnets 
and plasma control systems. ITER will be an international science 
experiment of a scale and importance second to none.
  The siting and financing of ITER are currently being negotiated 
between Europe, Japan, Russia, Canada and China. This bill will help 
give the Administration the license it needs to move forward and stake 
out a good place at the table of the ITER experiment. The importance of 
the ITER experiment dictates that the United States must have a strong 
position as the project moves forward.
  In addition, our bill sets as a goal that the United States should 
develop the scientific, engineering and commercial infrastructure 
necessary to be competitive with other nations in this new frontier of 
energy. In this regard, it requires the Secretary of Energy to submit 
to Congress a plan to strengthen our existing fusion research efforts 
and to address the critically important issues of fusion materials and 
technology.
  I ask that my colleagues devote their time to the extraordinarily 
important subject of our present and future energy supply. The deeper 
one delves into this subject, the more self-evident it becomes that 
fusion is a must-have technology for the future.
  The bill we are introducing today will help bring us closer to the 
time when energy is less of a global political issue and energy 
production has minimal impact on our natural environment. Fusion is an 
important part of this vision and this goal. I therefore urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation.

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