Preliminary findings of a national committee on environmental, safety, and economic aspects of magnetic fusion energy

The attractiveness of magnetic fusion as a commercial energy source will depend on its performance, relative to other energy technologies available in the same time frame, with respect to economics, environment, and safety. Although a variety of past and ongoing reviews of fusion's prospects touch different aspects of this issue, the Office of Fusion Energy (OFE) of the US Dept. of Energy is funding the work of a special national committee to pull together during FY 1986 a report emphasizing the interaction of environmental, safety, and economic characteristics in fusion reactor design and the prospects for achieving combinations of these characteristics that would make fusion an attractive long-term energy source compared to (or in symbiosis with) fission and other options.