Request for Information (RFI): Enabling Technologies for Improving Fusion Power Plant Performance and Availability | DE FOA 0002874

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is DE-FOA-0002874?

DE-FOA-0002874 is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to gather input that could shape a future ARPA-E research and development program focused on enabling technologies for fusion power plants.

2) Is this a funding opportunity or a grant solicitation?

No. This notice is strictly an information-gathering RFI and is not a funding opportunity announcement. It is not accepting applications for financial assistance.

3) Is there any award money available under this RFI?

No. The award ceiling is listed as $0 and the expected number of awards is 0. There is no funding attached to this RFI.

4) If there is no funding, what is ARPA-E trying to accomplish?

ARPA-E is collecting technical and programmatic feedback from the community to help decide whether to create a later, separate program that could fund applied R&D for enabling technologies for fusion power plants, and how that future program might be structured.

5) What are the main technical themes ARPA-E is asking about?

The RFI is organized around two major themes that ARPA-E views as central to commercial fusion viability: (A) improving fusion power plant performance and (B) increasing fusion power plant availability.

6) How does the RFI define "improving fusion power plant performance"?

The performance focus is on improving the efficiency of the systems that create and sustain fusion conditions. The RFI highlights wall-plug efficiency (WPE) as a key metric, since higher WPE reduces the amount of generated power that must be routed back into operating the plant.

7) What does ARPA-E emphasize for magnetic fusion energy (MFE) concepts?

For magnetic fusion energy concepts, the RFI points to the need for higher wall-plug efficiency in plasma heating and current-drive systems.

8) What does ARPA-E emphasize for laser inertial fusion energy (IFE) concepts?

For laser inertial fusion energy concepts, the RFI emphasizes higher wall-plug efficiency in the driver lasers, along with additional enabling needs around fusion target production and operation.

9) Why is wall-plug efficiency (WPE) so important in this RFI?

Higher WPE reduces "recirculating power" (the fraction of power generated by the plant that must be fed back into heaters/lasers and supporting systems). Lower recirculating power increases net electricity delivered to the grid and is directly tied to lowering the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE).

10) What target-related challenges does the RFI highlight for IFE power plants?

For inertial fusion energy, ARPA-E highlights the need to produce extremely large numbers of low-cost, high-performance fusion targets (on the order of millions per day) that are compatible with the selected laser approach and can survive high-speed injection into the target chamber without damage or performance loss.

11) What aspects of IFE targets does ARPA-E consider "enabling technologies"?

The RFI indicates that target design, target fabrication cost, quality control, and injection survivability are enabling technology areas that can strongly influence whether an IFE plant can be economical.

12) How does the RFI define "increasing fusion power plant availability"?

The availability theme focuses on keeping fusion power plants running reliably with less downtime and lower maintenance burden. The RFI particularly stresses materials challenges that, if unsolved, could force frequent component replacement and reduce plant uptime.

13) What materials challenges are emphasized for fusion power plant availability?

The RFI highlights the harsh environment faced by plasma-facing components and structural materials, including intense heat loads, neutron flux, and particle bombardment. It notes that there is not currently a satisfactory plasma-facing material solution that can tolerate these combined conditions without unacceptable erosion, melting, or rapid degradation.

14) Why are plasma-facing materials such a concern?

Because rapid degradation of plasma-facing materials could require frequent replacement, which would increase downtime and maintenance costs and reduce power plant availability, undermining economic competitiveness.

15) What structural material issues does the RFI call out?

The RFI stresses improved structural materials that maintain reliability and long service life under neutron irradiation. It specifically calls out transmutation (neutron-driven changes in nuclide composition) and activation (creation of radioactive isotopes) as critical design constraints affecting lifetime, safety, maintenance practices, and waste handling.

16) What does the RFI say about transmutation and activation?

ARPA-E notes that transmutation and activation are key constraints for fusion structural materials because they influence component lifetime, safety approaches, how maintenance is performed, and how materials are handled as waste.

17) Does the RFI include interest in faster materials development approaches?

Yes. A key element of the RFI's vision is compressing the materials discovery and qualification timeline through autonomous or accelerated discovery approaches.

18) What kinds of accelerated or autonomous materials approaches are mentioned?

The RFI signals interest in data-driven and closed-loop methods combining high-throughput synthesis and characterization with machine learning and automation, with the goal of quickly iterating from results to improved materials concepts and processing routes.

19) What enabling capabilities are implied for accelerated materials discovery?

The RFI implicitly points to enabling technologies for high-throughput fabrication, rapid testing under relevant conditions, advanced characterization, and integrated data systems that support fast learning cycles.

20) How does this RFI relate to ARPA-E's prior fusion programs?

ARPA-E positions the RFI as building on lessons learned and remaining gaps after earlier fusion-focused efforts, including ALPHA (Accelerating Low-Cost Plasma Heating and Assembly), BETHE (Breakthroughs Enabling THermonuclear-fusion Energy), and GAMOW (Galvanizing Advances in Market-Aligned Fusion for an Overabundance of Watts).

21) Who is eligible to respond to the RFI?

Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity could provide input, subject to any details in the full RFI text.

22) When was the RFI created and what was the response deadline?

The RFI was created on October 21, 2022. Responses were due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 21, 2022.

23) How were responses submitted?

Responses were to be submitted as PDF documents via email to ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov.

24) Where could respondents find the full RFI details?

The full RFI details were made available through ARPA-E's FOA site at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

25) The listing mentions "Cooperative Agreement." Does that mean funding is available here?

No. The mention of "Cooperative Agreement" reflects a general category ARPA-E often uses for funded programs, but this specific notice is an RFI only and does not award funding.

26) Does responding to the RFI count as submitting a grant application?

No. The notice is not accepting applications for financial assistance. A response is informational feedback intended to help ARPA-E assess and shape a potential future program.