Economic Analysis of Advanced Fuel Fusion Reactors and Derivation of Scaling Law for COE

Abstract

Social acceptance of fusion reactors depends largely on their economic viability. To investigate this issue, we estimate and compare the cost of electricity (COE) among D-T, D-³He, and D-D fusion reactors. Three types of confinement systems are evaluated: the tokamak reactor (TR), the spherical tokamak reactor (STR), and helical reactor (HR). For each reactor type, COE parameter surveys are performed and new scaling laws for COE are derived. The COE for D-³He and D-D is high and depends more strongly on plasma beta value and maximum magnetic field strength than that of D-T.