II. INTRODUCTION The DOE and NASA have initiated a joint program which is described in the document entitled SPS Concept Development, and Evaluation Program Plan (July 1977 - August 1980), D0E/ET-0034, dated February 1978. The objective of the program is to generate information from which a rational decision can be made regarding the direction of the SPS program after fiscal year 1980. Briefly, the plan states that NASA will conduct systems definition of the SPS and the DOE will evaluate health, safety, and environmental factors and will study SPS economic, international, and institutional issues. In addition, DOE will make comparative assessments of the concept relative to alternative power sources for the future. Figure 2 shows a simplified diagram of the development and evaluation methodology. As indicated, the major milestones of the plan are baseline concept(s) selection - October 1978; preliminary program recommendations - May 1979; updated program recommendations - January 1980; and final program recommendations - June 1980. In this report, the term Reference System is used instead of baseline concept(s) as being more appropriate for the current level of definition and understanding. Using the results of this evaluation program as a basis and considering other pertinent factors, it will be possible for the Administration to either recommend continuation of the program in accordance with a defined option or terminate the program. The purpose of this document is to present a description of the Reference System. It is submitted in response to the Baseline Concept(s) Definition program milestone (October 1978) established in the DOE/NASA plan as indicated above. Section III of the report presents a description of the Reference System with emphasis on technical and operational information required by DOE to conduct environmental, socioeconomic, and comparative assessment studies. It is recognized that the Reference System lacks maturity as reported herein. Definition work is continuing to develop further understanding of the system.
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