Fusion could be a part of future decarbonized electricity systems, but it will need to compete with other technologies. In particular, pulsed tokamak plants have a unique operational mode, and evaluating which characteristics make them economically competitive can help select between design pathways. Using a capacity expansion and operations model, we determined cost thresholds for pulsed tokamaks to reach a range of penetration levels in a future decarbonized US Eastern Interconnection. The required capital cost to reach a fusion capacity of 100 GW varied from $2,700 to $7,500 kW⁻¹, and the equilibrium penetration increases rapidly with decreasing cost. The value per unit power capacity depends on the variable operational cost and on the cost of its competition, particularly fission, much more than on the pulse cycle parameters. These findings can therefore provide initial cost targets for fusion more generally in the United States.

核聚变可能成为未来脱碳电力系统的一部分，但它需要与其他技术竞争。特别是，脉冲托卡马克装置具有独特的运行模式，评估哪些特性使其具有经济竞争力有助于在设计路径之间进行选择。使用容量扩展和运营模型，我们确定了脉冲托卡马克在未来脱碳的美国东部互连中达到一系列渗透水平的成本阈值。达到 100 GW 聚变容量所需的资本成本从 2,700 美元到 7,500 千瓦不等^-1，平衡渗透率随着成本的降低而迅速增加。每单位功率容量的价值取决于可变运行成本及其竞争成本，尤其是裂变成本，远多于脉冲周期参数。因此，这些发现可以为美国更普遍的核聚变提供初始成本目标。