IFE Collaboratory for Public-Private Partnerships
Hot Topics & News
New INFUSE Request for Assistance (RFA) Announced: https://infuse.ornl.gov/
Vision
Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) is one of the principal approaches being explored around the world for large-scale fusion power generation, and has the potential to leverage substantial US government investment and capabilities in related programs at the DOE’s National Laboratories and partner institutions. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are expected to play a critical role in IFE Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) and the potential commercialization of IFE. Although prior IFE-related science and technology have been nearly all government sponsored, significant private investments into IFE startups have commenced over the last several years and could grow, following the trend of escalating private investments in magnetic and magneto-inertial fusion energy that are now collectively in the multibillion-dollar scale over a number of years. The goal of the IFE Virtual Collaboratory is to facilitate PPPs for accelerating the development of IFE and help solidify US leadership in this critical energy technology of the future by making available and applying the extensive capabilities, expertise and knowledge developed over decades in the public sector.
Request for Information and IFE Industry Day
As a first step of facilitating public-private partnerships for IFE, an RFI has been issued to assess private industry interest in accessing fusion-relevant capabilities, expertise and intellectual property available within the Virtual Collaboratory of DOE-funded institutions. The details of this RFI can be found here.
These public-private partnerships could be fully private sector funded, fully public sector funded through traditional government R&D programs, or jointly funded through a combination of public and private sector funds. The intent of the RFI is to solicit private sector responses to inform two Industry Day events. Day 1 will be virtual and open to all, and provide an overview of capabilities and projects of interest. Day 2 will be an in-person, invite-only event, where public and private sector members can meet to further the development of potential work packages and statement of works (SOWs) for rapid contractual mechanisms such as expedited Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs).
You can review the capabilities and projects of interest for PPP from the Collaboratory here.
Although the deadline for the first request for information has passed for participation in Industry Day 1 (which occurred Oct 27th), you can respond to the Collaboratory’s request for information here. Talks from the first Industry Day are on the "Industry Day 1" tab. A follow-on second industry day will be hosted at LLNL (Nov 10th) and will be by invitation based on RFI response and subsequent discussions.
Questions can be directed here
What is the IFE Collaboratory?
The IFE Virtual Collaboratory currently consists of organizations and partners funded by the Department of Energy, and at this time includes LANL, LBNL, LLE, LLNL, SNL, GA, SLAC, SRNL, ORNL, and NRL. The goal of the IFE Virtual Collaboratory is to facilitate PPPs for accelerating the development of IFE.
Members
