Strategic Input Developed by the Boundary/PMI and High Heat Flux Expert Groups during the Community Planning Process

A review of strategic roadmaps towards construction and operation of a Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP), as developed by the Boundary/PMI and High Heat Flux expert groups during the 2019-2020 APS Community Planning Process, will be presented. Five critical physics gaps (CPGs) were identified in the areas of (1) divertor detachment control; (2) heat flux widths; (3) damaging edge transients; (4) material migration; and (5) core-edge integration. Additionally, five key engineering design issues (EDIs) were identified regarding (a) heat flux limits; (b) tritium retention probability; (c) synergistic irradiation effects, (d) first wall lifetime, and (e) manufacturability, waste, and licensing. A set of coordinated program elements (based on community white paper submissions) comprising each of these roadmaps will be discussed and the level of outstanding risk for FPP assessed within the context of these CPGs and EDIs. Roadmaps range from "major risk," where bold steps towards fusion energy in the near term are almost completely missing, to "reduced risk" where all CPGs and EDIs are addressed before FPP operation at the expense of significantly increased cost and/or development time.