Near Term Commercial Opportunities from Long Range Fusion Research

An alternate approach to the development of safe, clean, and economical fusion energy for the 21st Century is presented. Instead of continuing exclusively on the path of larger and more costly magnetic confinement fusion reactors based on the DT cycle, it is proposed that near term commercial opportunities using fusion plasmas be identified and pursued. Specific examples of such opportunities are given in the areas of the detection of explosives, the production of medical isotopes, and the destruction of long lived fission product isotopes. It is also suggested that a more profitable path to the goal of fusion electricity might be to concentrate on small, simple devices that eventually can burn the more advanced fusion fuels that emit few if any neutrons. Such devices could gain back the public confidence and counter the “fusion is always 50 years away” syndrome.