Magnetic fusion reactor economics

An almost primordial trend in the conversion and use of energy is an increased complexity and cost of conversion systems designed to utilize cheaper and more-abundant fuels; this trend is exemplified by the progression fossil/spl rarr/fission/spl rarr/fusion. The present projections of the latter indicate that capital costs of the fusion "burner" far exceed any commensurate savings associated with the cheapest and most-abundant of fuels. These projections suggest competitive fusion power only if internal costs with the use of fossil or fission fuels emerge to make them either uneconomic, unacceptable, or both with respect to expensive fusion systems. This "implementation-by-default" plan for fusion energy is re-examined by identifying in general terms fusion power-plant embodiments that might compete favorably under conditions where internal costs (both economic and environmental) of fossil and/or fission are not as great as is needed to justify the contemporary vision for fusion power. Competitive fusion power in this context will require a significant broadening of an overly focused program to explore the physics and symbiotic technologies leading to more compact, simplified, and efficient plasma-confinement configurations that reside at the heart of an attractive fusion power plant.