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

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.