Office of Science (2020 Presidential transition)

Book 3 - Organization Overview
Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020

Within the DOE , the Office of Science (SC) plays a unique and complementary role as a mission-driven science organization supporting discovery science in six science program areas, in addition to mission-relevant, use-inspired research necessary to advance DOE’s missions in energy, environment, and national security.

SC is the largest Federal supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. SC funds programs in physics; chemistry; materials science; biology; environmental science; applied mathematics; and computer and computational sciences; and is the Federal steward for several disciplines within these fields such as high energy physics and nuclear physics; fusion sciences; high performance computing science and technology; and accelerator and detector science and technology. SC is also the largest Federal supporter of fundamental research relevant to future solutions for clean energy. The scale and complexity of the SC research portfolio provide a competitive advantage to the nation as multidisciplinary teams of scientists, using some of the most advanced scientific instruments in the world, are able to respond quickly to national priorities and evolving opportunities at the frontiers of science.

The SC portfolio has two principal thrusts: direct support of scientific research; and direct support of the design, construction, and operation of unique, open-access scientific user facilities. SC supports over 25,000 researchers located at over 300 academic institutions and at all 17 of the DOE national laboratories. Thousands of researchers from universities, national laboratories, industry, and international partners are expected to use SC user facilities in FY 2020. In addition, SC is responsible for the stewardship of ten of the DOE national laboratories.

Mission Statement

The SC mission is to deliver scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States.

Budget

Fiscal Year	Budget
FY 2019 enacted	$6,585,000,000
FY 2020 enacted	$7,000,000,000
FY 2021 requested	$5,837,800,000

Human Resources

FY 2020 authorized full-time equivalents (FTEs): 785

History

The SC origins trace back to the Manhattan Project . By the close of World War II , it was evident that fundamental knowledge of atomic and nuclear physics had tipped the balance of world power. The Manhattan Project vividly demonstrated the importance of basic research and its linkages to some of the most urgent national priorities. Basic research programs in atomic, nuclear, and radiation physics, and in related disciplines of chemistry and applied mathematics, were foremost among those brought forward from the Manhattan Project.

The all-out effort to create the world’s first nuclear weapon created a vast research and development apparatus—including large, multi- purpose facilities that became the nation’s first national laboratories—under the control of the War Department’s Army Corps of Engineers . In 1946, the Atomic Energy Act transferred responsibility for nuclear research and development from the War Department to a new independent civilian agency, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The tools needed to carry out this mission were of a scale that required the federal government to construct and operate them. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the AEC created a network of national laboratories to host machines, such as particle accelerators and colliders and arrays of isotope-separating centrifuges, that became the foundation of this new nuclear science. Many of the Commission’s activities were unprecedented and exploratory. The Commission’s charter directed it, in part, to ensure continuity of the ongoing activities and to carry out a diversified program of basic research.

Motivated by the Arab oil embargo, lawmakers terminated the AEC and placed its research functions under the newly created Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) in 1974. ERDA consolidated existing energy research activities across the AEC and other agencies; its basic research portfolio included nuclear, solar, fossil, and geothermal energy; as well as conservation, synthetic fuels, and power transmission. In 1977, the establishment of DOE gathered under one authority most of the federal government’s energy-related research, policy, and regulatory activities (with the exception of regulation of the nuclear power industry). The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 specifically created the Office of Energy Research . In 1998, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act changed the name of the Office of Energy Research to the Office of Science (SC). Today, SC continues its longstanding leadership of fundamental scientific research for energy and is the largest U.S. Federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences.

Functions

SC accomplishes its mission and advances national goals by supporting:

Research at the frontiers of science— discovering nature’s mysteries, from the study of subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules that are the building blocks of the materials of our everyday world; to the DNA, proteins, and cells that are the building blocks of entire biological systems.
Science for energy and the environment— advancing a clean energy agenda through fundamental research on energy production, conversion, storage, transmission, and use, and through advancing our understanding of the earth and its climate.
The 21st century tools of science—providing the Nation’s researchers with state-of-the-art scientific user facilities considered the most advanced tools of modern science.

SC also has stewardship and primary oversight responsibility for the majority of DOE’s national laboratories, stewarding 10 of 17 laboratories: Ames Laboratory (Ames), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Template:W or p (BNL), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory (TJNAF).

Office of Science Research

SC manages a fundamental research portfolio through six core program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research ; Basic Energy Sciences ; Biological and Environmental Research ; Fusion Energy Sciences ; High Energy Physics ; and Nuclear Physics . The six SC research program offices are responsible for scientific program planning, including engaging the S&T communities; program budget planning; program execution; and management across the relevant scientific disciplines. The research program offices are also responsible for the selection and evaluation of their research and project portfolios that collectively make up the approximately $7 billion in annual funding that is awarded as grants or cooperative agreements to universities and colleges, or as funding to the 17 DOE national laboratories operated under the Management and Operating (M&O) contracts.

Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)

ASCR supports research to discover, develop, and deploy computational and networking capabilities to analyze, model, simulate, and predict complex phenomena important to the United States. ASCR applied mathematics and computer science research as well as research on the linked challenges of capable exascale and data-intensive science, and computational partnerships under the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program, support the computational needs to advance basic science and clean energy. ASCR also supports 4 scientific user facilities: the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet); the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) at ORNL; and the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) at ANL.

Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

BES supports fundamental research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels to provide foundations for new energy technologies. BES supports a large portfolio of core research in chemical sciences, geosciences, biosciences, and materials sciences and engineering, as well as the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) in key areas related to Departmental priorities. BES supports the Fuels from Sunlight and the Batteries and Energy Storage DOE Energy Innovation Hubs. BES also provides for the operations of five x-ray light source facilities, five nanoscale science research centers, and two neutron scattering facilities, and has six ongoing construction projects, one construction project planned as a new start in FY 2021, and two major item of equipment projects to advance research capabilities to maintain U.S. competitiveness in these areas.

Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

BER supports transformative science and scientific user facilities to achieve a predictive understanding of complex biological, earth, and environmental systems for energy and infrastructure security, independence, and prosperity. Starting with the genetic information encoded in organisms’ genomes, BER research seeks to discover the principles that guide the translation of the genetic code into functional proteins and the metabolic and regulatory networks underlying the systems biology of plants and microbes as they respond to and modify their environments. This predictive understanding will enable design and reengineering of microbes and plants underpinning energy independence and a broad clean energy portfolio, including improved biofuels and bioproducts, improved carbon storage capabilities, and controlled biological transformation of materials such as nutrients and contaminants in the environment. BER research further advances the fundamental understanding of dynamic, physical, and biogeochemical processes required to systematically develop Earth System models that integrate across the atmosphere, land masses, oceans, sea ice, and subsurface. These predictive tools and approaches are needed to inform policies and plans for ensuring the security and resilience of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and natural resources. BER supports four Bioenergy Research Centers and three scientific user facilities.

Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

FES supports research to expand the fundamental understanding of matter at very high temperatures and densities, and to build the scientific foundation needed to develop a fusion energy source. The FES program includes experimental research on the fundamental science of magnetic confinement theoretical research and advanced simulations to develop a predictive understanding of burning plasmas; materials research, fusion nuclear science, and enabling technology research and development; measurement innovation; general plasma science; and high-energy-density plasma science including the LaserNetUS consortium of high-power lasers. FES supports public-private partnerships through the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program to accelerate progress toward the development of fusion energy. FES supports continued progress on the U.S. contributions to the ITER Project to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion energy. FES also supports the operation of two SC user facilities, the DIII-D tokamak operated by General Atomics in San Diego, CA, and the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) at PPPL in Princeton, NJ. These user facilities are integral to maintain a world-leading status and resolve high- priority scientific issues for the development of a fusion energy source.

High Energy Physics (HEP)

HEP supports research to understand how the universe works at its most fundamental level by discovering the most elementary constituents of matter and energy, probing the interactions among them, and exploring the basic nature of space and time itself. HEP’s portfolio of fundamental research and enabling facilities spans the three “frontiers” of particle physics: the Energy Frontier, the Intensity Frontier, and the Cosmic Frontier. HEP supports major facilities and experiments such as the Fermilab Accelerator Complex, upgraded Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beamline of NuMI Off-axis ν_e Appearance (NOvA) Experiment, and the Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET). HEP supports two construction projects, the Proton Improvement Plan-II (PIP-II) and the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF)/ Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) project, and four major item of equipment projects for accelerator and detector upgrades at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and for a next-generation cosmic microwave background experiment (CMB-S4).

Nuclear Physics (NP)

NP’s mission is to discover, explore, and understand all forms of nuclear matter, including why it takes on the specific forms observed in nature and how that knowledge can benefit society in the areas of energy, commerce, medicine, and national security. NP supports theoretical approaches based on the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) as well as research towards Quantum Computing. NP supports three scientific user facilities which collide particles at nearly the speed of light, producing short-lived forms of nuclear matter for investigation: the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), and the Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS). NP supports two construction projects: the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). In 2022, FRIB will afford access to eighty percent of all isotopes predicted to exist in nature. The EIC will illuminate how the mass of everyday objects is dynamically generated by the interaction of quarks and gluons inside protons and neutrons. One equally exciting NP frontier uses the nucleus itself as a laboratory for observing nature’s fundamental symmetries, including the search for a nuclear decay predicted to only be possible if the neutrino is its own anti-particle.

Additional Programs and Activities

SC also manages and supports the following additional programs and activities: Strategic Planning and Interagency Coordination; International Science and Technology Cooperation and Trusted Research; Diversity, Inclusion and Research Integrity; Crosscutting and Special Initiatives; Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists; the DOE Small Business Innovation Research Small Business Technology Transfer programs; Accelerator R&D and Production; Isotope R&D and Production; Science Laboratories Infrastructure; and Safeguards and Security.

Strategic Planning and Interagency Coordination (SPAIC)

The Office of Strategic Planning and Interagency Coordination (SPAIC) is the primary coordinator for interactions between SC and the other major federal organizations that fund basic research as well as interagency activities. SPAIC also conducts a formal annual SC strategic planning process preparing a written strategic ten-year plan for SC. International Science and Technology Cooperation and Trusted Research The Office of International Science and Technology Cooperation and Trusted Research is working to promote the norms, principles, and values of openness, transparency, and reciprocal collaboration that will inform our international collaborations. The office is also engaging stakeholders in the research enterprise and coordinating with interagency efforts to gain a better understanding of emerging risks and to develop a coordinated federal response. It is developing a comprehensive strategy for international engagement—by country and by topic—rather than in a project-by-project or program-by-program basis.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Research Integrity

Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is central to advancing scientific excellence. Spearheaded by the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Research Integrity, SC promotes diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces that value and celebrate a diversity of people, ideas, cultures, and educational backgrounds, which is foundational to delivering on SC’s mission. Harnessing a diverse range of views, expertise, and experiences drives scientific and technological innovation and enables the SC community to push the frontiers of scientific knowledge for the betterment of America’s prosperity and security.

Crosscutting and Special Initiatives

The Office of Crosscutting and Special Initiatives shepherds existing crosscutting topics and works to identify and spearhead new initiatives. Crosscuts are designed to bring together the capabilities and R&D of multiple programs and offices, providing synergy and breadth that can solve complex problems. The long-term objectives are to enhance research integration across the scientific community and to build and adopt new technologies and processes that will fundamentally change the nature of research.

Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)

The WDTS program mission is to help ensure that DOE has a sustained pipeline of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers to carry out its mission, whether at DOE laboratories, academia, or federal program offices. This is accomplished through support of undergraduate student internships, graduate student thesis research, and visiting faculty research opportunities at the DOE laboratories. WDTS is also responsible for annual, nationwide, middle-and high-school science competitions culminating in the National Science Bowl® in Washington, D.C .

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program/ Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs

The Federal agencies with annual R&D appropriations greater than $100 million for extramural work are required by statute to operate SBIR and STTR Programs to support innovative research and technology development performed by small businesses. SC manages the DOE SBIR/ STTR Programs on behalf of the Department, with the exception of ARPA-E, in close coordination with all of the contributing SC research program offices and the DOE applied technology offices— the Offices of Fossil Energy (FE); Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); Nuclear Energy (NE); Environmental Management (EM); Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN); and Electricity (OE). The 12 participating programs are responsible for topic selection, reviewer assignment, award selection, and project oversight. The SBIR/STTR Programs Office is responsible for issuing topics and solicitations, managing the review and selection process, working with the SC Integrated Service Center to award SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II grants, issuing annual reports to the U.S. Small Business Administration , performing outreach, and setting overall policy for the Department’s SBIR and STTR Programs.

Accelerator R&D and Production (ARDAP)

The Office of Accelerator R&D and Production (ARDAP) coordinates the ongoing accelerator science & technology R&D (AS&T R&D) investments made through the core R&D programs of SC, and to make investments to ensure that the U.S. continues to produce world-leading scientific facilities. ARDAP’s vision is to support U.S. leadership in physical science R&D by coordinating and making accelerator R&D investments that are aimed at addressing AS&T needs and strengthening US capabilities. ARDAP also supports one scientific user facility, the Accelerator Test Facility.

Isotope R&D and Production (IRDP)

The DOE Isotope Program was moved out of the Office of Nuclear Physics and into its own office, the Office of Isotope R&D and Production (IRDP). IRDP supports the production, distribution, and development of production techniques for radioactive and stable isotopes in short supply and critical to the Nation, under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The office also supports R&D efforts associated with developing new and more cost-effective and efficient production and processing techniques, and on the production of isotopes needed for research purposes.

Science Laboratories Infrastructure (SLI)

The SC SLI program supports scientific and technological innovation at the SC-stewarded DOE laboratories by funding and sustaining mission-ready infrastructure and fostering safe and environmentally responsible operations. The program provides state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure that are flexible, reliable, and sustainable in support of scientific discovery. SLI supports ongoing projects that will provide new laboratory buildings, renovate facilities, and upgraded utilities. While significant improvements to SC laboratory infrastructure have been made, it is important to maintain a strong level of investment and continue making improvements across the SC national laboratory complex. SC, through SLI, participates in the DOE-wide infrastructure crosscut, which is part of DOE’s strategy for addressing critical infrastructure needs across the DOE laboratory complex.

Safeguards and Security (S&S)

The SC S&S program is designed to ensure appropriate security measures are in place to support the SC mission requirement of open scientific research, and to protect critical assets within SC laboratories. This is accomplished by providing physical controls that will mitigate possible risks to the laboratories’ employees; nuclear and special materials; classified and sensitive information; and facilities. The SC S&S program also provides funding for cybersecurity for the laboratories’ information technology systems to protect electronic data while enabling the SC mission Program Planning Successful management of SC’s large and complex scientific research portfolios and facilities is a result of the implementation of best practices in program planning, and program and project management. These practices include: (1) employing the best experts–program managers, project directors, contracting officers and other specialists who are experts in their respective fields; (2) conducting multiyear program planning and budgeting; (3) engaging with the broader S&T communities from universities, national laboratories, and industry in both planning and evaluation processes, including through dedicated Federal Advisory Committees; (4) openly competing research activities and projects to encourage the most capable performers to apply; (5) using external merit-based peer review both to inform selection decisions and to assess ongoing research and project performance; and (6) engaging awardees and contractors collectively on a regular basis to encourage exchange of results and ideas. SC’s engagement with the broader S&T communities and stakeholders to obtain input in planning efforts is extensive and is accomplished through a number of different processes and mechanisms, including:

SC-led scientific and technical workshops.
Reviews and studies by the SC Federal Advisory Committees.
External studies by organizations such as the National Academies.
Interagency Committees and Working Groups.
Requests for Information (RFIs) posted in the Federal Register; and
SC program manager participation at national meetings and conferences

SC has established a Federal Advisory Committee for each of the six SC research programs offices, which are governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) of 1972 (Public Law 92-463) and all applicable FACA amendments, federal regulations, and executive orders. The committees include experts from universities, national laboratories, and industries and provide valuable, independent advice to SC upper management regarding the scientific and technical issues that arise in the planning, management, and implementation of the research programs.

Program Management and Evaluation

Merit-based peer review provides the foundation for which SC selects and evaluates the quality and impact of the research and scientific facilities that it supports. SC’s sponsored activities, whether at universities, national laboratories, or private sector organizations, are evaluated at multiple stages. Proposals solicited and received by SC are peer reviewed and the results of peer review inform selection decisions for funding. SC engages active researchers from academia, national labs, and/or the private sector to serve as reviewers who participate as volunteers. SC’s merit review system is defined by 10 CFR 605. While 10 CFR 605 governs financial assistance (grants and cooperative agreements), SC applies its principles to national laboratory reviews as well. SC evaluates ongoing basic research activities and facility operations using merit-based peer review; the extent to which this is done may vary depending on the size of the award or project. For large and/or multi-institutional research activities and on-going DOE laboratory research activities and research facility operations, external peer reviews are periodically conducted to assess management and/or scientific progress.

Construction projects and Major Items of Equipment (MIE) are governed by the requirements of DOE Order 413.3B, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets. SC, through the SC Office of Project Assessment, in collaboration with the sponsoring SC program office, conducts regular project reviews to help ensure projects remain on schedule and within budget. These reviews have been an integral part of SC’s success in maintaining cost and schedule baselines of its large, complex construction and MIE projects.

Lastly, through the use of its Federal Advisory Committees , SC evaluates its own business practices in order to maintain high standards for program and project management and obtain external advice for continuous improvement. SC charges each of its six Federal Advisory Committees on a periodic basis to establish a Committee of Visitors (COV) to assess the efficacy and quality of the processes used by the respective program office to solicit, review, recommend, monitor, and document funding actions and to assess the Laboratory Stewardship (Planning and Evaluation) SC conducts a formal laboratory strategic planning process annually whereby each of its ten national laboratories prepare written strategic ten-year plans that form the basis for detailed discussions during in-person meetings at DOE HQ between laboratory leadership and SC leadership on the laboratories’ future directions, immediate and long-range challenges, and resource needs. SC’s annual laboratory planning (ALP) process has been recognized as a best practice in the Department.

Each year, SC conducts an evaluation of the scientific, technological, managerial, and operational performance of the M&O contractors of its ten national laboratories. The evaluations provide the basis for determining annual performance fees and the possibility of winning additional years on the M&O contract through an “Award Term” extension. The evaluations also serve to inform the decisions the Department makes regarding whether to extend or to compete the M&O contracts. The current SC laboratory appraisal process has been in place since FY 2006. The appraisal process improves the transparency of evaluations, raises the level of involvement by the SC leadership, increases consistency in the way the laboratories are evaluated, and more effectively incentivizes contractor performance by tying performance to fee earned, contract length, and the public release of grades quality of the resulting portfolio and make recommendations.

Recent Organization Accomplishments

SC’s recent significant organization accomplishments include:

Scientific Discoveries and Findings

SC manages a research portfolio of over 3,000 active research awards. The primary accomplishments from SC-funded research and facilities are the resulting scientific discoveries and findings, which are predominately captured in the archival, peer-reviewed scientific literature. Recent scientific discoveries and accomplishments are on the SC webpage: https://www.energy.gov/science/ listings/science-highlights

Delivery of New Scientific User Facilities

SC supports the design, construction, and operation of unique open access scientific user facilities that offer the scientific community and industry unmatched capabilities. SC currently operates 28 such facilities, including particle and nuclear physics accelerators and colliders; light sources and neutron scattering facilities; some of the fastest high-performance computers in the world for open science; nanoscale science research centers; and observational capabilities for environmental and atmospheric modeling. Since 2016, SC has successfully completed 17 such projects in various program areas. In September 2017, SC completed the construction and commissioning of the 12 GeV Upgrade project at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility , in Newport News, Virginia, on time and within budget. The 12 GeV project tripled the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility’s (CEBAF) original operating energy and commissioned a new experimental area dedicated to providing insight into one of the universe’s great mysteries: why the fundamental constituents of matter, quarks, may never be found in isolation. In 2019, the LHC ATLAS Detector Upgrade and LHC CMS Detector Upgrade projects were completed on cost and within schedule. The objective of ATLAS-U was to design and construct leading edge and innovative electronics components and corresponding firmware for the upgrade of the ATLAS high energy physics experiment, installed at the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The CMS-U project comprised strategic upgrades to three systems of the CMS detector to cope with increasing collision rates (“luminosity”), also at LHC.

Capital Asset Project Performance

SC continues to lead DOE in project performance for capital asset projects, as measured by the Government Accountability Office ’s (GAO) project success metrics, which were initiated in FY 2008. SC has delivered 100% of its projects within 110% of their original approved cost baselines in the past three rolling measurements from FY 2018 to FY 2020. In FY 2020, SC has 48 active, capital asset projects (post Critical Decision-0), each with Total Project Costs greater than $20 million. In 2019, the LHC ATLAS Detector Upgrade and LHC CMS Detector Upgrade projects received the DOE Secretary’s Award of Achievement.

Research and Development Awards

In 2019, 41 of the 100 annual awards given out by R&D Magazine were won by researchers at DOE National Laboratories . The R&D 100 awards, sometimes called the “Oscars of Innovation,” are given annually in recognition of exceptional new products or processes that were developed and introduced into the marketplace during the previous year. Seventeen of those 41 DOE researchers were at SC national laboratories.

Quantum Information Sciences

SC’s investments in Quantum Information Sciences (QIS) have ramped up from $6M in FY 2017 to $195M in FY 2020. All six core SC programs and the isotope program are supporting research in QIS and efforts are focused on three key areas: early-stage core research within the SC programs, support for five National QIS Research Centers, and plans to develop a quantum Internet that will connect the National QIS Research Centers and DOE laboratories.

Leadership Challenges

SC’s leadership challenges include:

ITER

ITER is an international research and development (R&D) project for the construction and operation of the world’s largest fusion energy research facility near Cadarache, France. The purpose of the project is to validate the technical viability of magnetically confined “burning plasma,” which is anticipated to lead to the realization of fusion energy as a clean and sustainable solution to power generation. The seven signatories to the 2007 ITER Agreement are the United States, European Union, China, India, Russia, Japan, and Korea. All seven Members are co- owners of the ITER facility and, as such, are required to fund and govern the project. The current plan is to achieve the first operational milestone of the project, called “First Plasma,” in 2025. A reassessment of the schedule due to COVID-19 impacts may result in a delay to the baseline schedule. Since the inception of the Agreement, the full U.S. construction costs have risen from a range of $1.45 to $2.2B to $4.7 to $6.5B, which includes more than $1B in cost contingency. The U.S. in-kind contributions to the ITER project have been baselined up to First Plasma. (See separate transition paper on ITER.)

Exascale

It is critical to National security and economic competitiveness to maintain the DOE’s Exascale Computing Initiative (ECI). The July 2015 Executive Order 13702 established the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) and identified DOE as one of the lead agencies. The NSCI called upon the DOE Office of Science (SC) and DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to “execute a joint program focused on advanced simulation through a capable exascale computing program emphasizing sustained performance on relevant applications and analytic computing to support their missions.” In 2016, DOE initiated research and development activities to deliver at least one exascale (1018 operations per second) computing capability in calendar year 2021 with two other DOE exascale systems delivered in the 2022-2023 timeframe. This activity, referred to as the ECI, is a partnership between SC and NNSA that addresses DOE’s science and national security mission requirements. Currently, within SC and NNSA, the total leadership computing capability (combined capability of existing DOE high-performance computers) is over 300 petaflops. In FY 2017, the SC R&D portion of the ECI was segregated into the Office of Science Exascale Computing Project (SC-ECP) in SC’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program. ECP provides the R&D necessary to effectively use exascale-capable systems and while ECI is focused the actual delivery of the exascale hardware. ASCR provides funds in ECI to support site preparations, non- recurring engineering investments and acceptance activities at the Argonne (ALCF) and Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facilities (OLCF). There were significant challenges associated with achieving this level of capacity due to the physical limits of existing computing technology and concomitant limitations in software design. Naive scaling of current high performance computing technologies would result in systems that are untenable in their energy consumption, data storage requirements, complexity to program effectively, and other factors. Unlike previous upgrades to DOE’s Leadership Computing Facilities, an exascale system capable of meeting critical national needs cannot be developed through incremental improvement of existing systems.

Over the past six decades, U.S. computing capabilities have been maintained through continuous research and the development and deployment of new computing systems with rapidly increasing performance on applications of major significance to government, industry, and academia. Maximizing the benefits of High-Performance Computing (HPC) in the coming decades will require an effective national response to increasing demands for computing power, emerging technological challenges and opportunities, and growing economic dependency on and competition with other nations. Early this summer, Japan overtook the U.S. on the Top500 list that identifies the world’s most powerful high-performance computers with the deployment of their 415 petaflop Fugaku system. Recognizing the importance of HPC to economic competitiveness, nations in Europe and Asia, particularly China, continue to invest in HPC. The Chinese strategy is increasingly to base their HPC systems on domestic technology, and China continues to lead the U.S. in the number of systems on the Top500 list. In addition, China has 3 exascale machines in the pipeline: a Sunway system in Jinangnan targeted for 2020, a NUDT system in Tianjin targeted for 2021, and a Sugon system in Shenzhen targeted for 2022. The Chinese have an advantage in that they are not held back by an installed base that needs backward compatibility and therefore, there is no need to “play it safe,” leading to an open-ended design space ranging from the conventional to the exotic. However, in the past two years, there has been a lack of new Chinese systems on the Top500. (See separate transition paper on Exascale.)

Multiple Concurrent Large Capital Projects

SC is engaged simultaneously in many large capital projects across its lab complex. The lab complex has become a giant, multi-campus construction site, with concomitant project management challenges. As of October 2020, SC is managing 10 projects over $50M that are past CD-2, close to 40 projects over $50M that are between CD-0 and CD-2, and 10 projects over $50M managed outside of the CD process because of the type of project or acquisition.

Critical Events and Action Items

Exascale. Application and exascale software testing and scaling will be initiated on exascale testbeds. The first exascale system is to be delivered during calendar year 2021.^[1]