A Multi-Criteria Evaluation Framework for Siting Fusion Energy Facilities: Application and Evaluation of U.S. Coal Power Plants

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive, multi-criteria decision-making framework for siting fusion energy facilities, demonstrated through a case study of US coal power plant sites, integrating expert judgment, geospatial data, and policy considerations.

Contribution

It introduces a scalable, transparent methodology combining MCDM techniques for evaluating potential fusion site suitability, specifically applied to existing coal power plant locations.

Findings

Coal plant sites show potential for future fusion facilities.

The framework effectively ranks sites based on multiple criteria.

Policy and infrastructural factors significantly influence site suitability.

Abstract

This paper proposes a comprehensive methodology for siting fusion energy facilities, integrating expert judgment, geospatial data, and multi-criteria decision making tools to evaluate site suitability systematically. As a case study, we apply this framework to all currently operational coal power plant sites in the United States to examine their potential for hosting future fusion facilities at a time when these coal plants are shut down on reaching their end of life - timelines which are expected to coincide with the potential deployment of fusion energy facilities. Drawing on 22 siting criteria - including state and federal policies, risk and hazard assessments, and spatial and infrastructural parameters - we implement two MultiCriteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods: the Fuzzy Full Consistency Method (F-FUCOM) to derive attribute weights and the Weighted Sum Method (WSM) to rank sites based on composite suitability scores. By focusing on fusion-specific siting needs and demonstrating the framework through a coal site application, this study contributes a scalable and transparent decision-support tool for identifying optimal fusion energy deployment locations.