Analysis of Policy Options for State Lawmakers to Support Pulsed Power Development for Fusion Energy

Nuclear fusion startups have emerged over the past decade, raising more than ten billion dollars in private funding; this industry has the potential to create 3.6 trillion dollars in economic value before the end of this century. As a zero-carbon, abundant, and baseload energy source, fusion has the potential to offset alternative power sources that emit greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. Governments can support the fusion industry through various public-private partnership models that can be structured and funded through different policy options. State governments can provide loans, tax credits, infrastructure, permits, workforce development, grants, and matching funds. National governments can write fusion regulations, accelerate patent processing, fund new user facilities, and create vouchers to access publicly funded resources. Publicly funded resources include test facilities, government-owned codes, government contractors and employees, computing centers, and fusion test data. This analysis looks at the effectiveness of different policy options for state governments to support the maturation of the pulsed power industry for fusion companies. It starts with the forecasted pulsed power requirements for different fusion reactor types,s including mirrors, stellarators, tokamaks, inertial fusion energy, and pinches. These needs are then compared to the current state of commercially available pulsed power hardware, and technical gaps are identified. There is a discussion of ways these gaps could be closed - with the associated funding, human capital, facilities, and organizational structures. The analysis then reviews the various policy options for state lawmakers and evaluates how effective each option is in supporting pulsed power maturation.