Fusion, with an inexhaustible energy supply, has many unique properties that enable it to provide a wide variety of useful products. In the past, the principal worldwide emphasis for fusion has been to pursue an economically attractive, central station, electrical generating power plant. With the projected cost of electricity from fusion power plant studies continuing to remain higher than those from competing technologies, alternative applications for fusion energy are being examined. The complete range of fusion products is being investigated to find common categories of applications and markets served by these products. A methodology based on the success and failure of previous large technology development projects was developed to assess encouraging fusion product applications.

The many fusion applications proposed in the past were examined and cataloged into general classes of applications, such as process heat, electricity, hydrogen fuels, desalination, waste processing, ore reduction, transmutation of elements, detection/remote sensing, and propulsion. Some of these products can only be created or processed with fusion, which creates a unique market. Other products can also be produced with competing technologies, hence the fusion product must be better and/or have a lower cost. Some of the applications are independent of confinement concept, while others may effectively use a smaller confinement device or a confinement concept previously judged unsuitable for electrical power generation.

With the wide range and diversity of fusion products and limited budgets, a methodology is necessary to prioritize the applications in order to concentrate on those with the most potential to best serve humankind while being a successful endeavor. An evaluation methodology has been developed to qualitatively evaluate the proposed applications in terms of market potential, environmental considerations, economic impact, risk, and public perception.

Applying the evaluation methodology, the proposed alternate applications are assessed and rank-ordered. The prioritized list of applications presented in this paper will be used to select promising products for further in-depth study.

* Work supported by US DOE through UCSD Purchase Order 10087872