MIT professors Dennis Whyte and Andrew W. Lo co-authored an open-access paper in the Journal of Fusion Energy proposing a framework for assessing the commercial viability of fusion power plants, MIT reported on Aug. 10, 2026. The framework has 10 parameters covering physical inputs, engineering features such as power density and component durability, and costs and market returns.

A central measure is what the authors call “economic Q,” the ratio of capital gained to capital expended; like the scientific plasma Q, the paper states it must be above 1 for basic viability. Whyte said the framework is agnostic to the fusion concept used and can be scaled to different reactor sizes, while Lo said costs must be accounted for rigorously as funding enters the field. The authors noted Commonwealth Fusion Systems had obtained a new billion-dollar funding round and hoped to open its first working power plant in the 2030s in Virginia.

Lo said economic viability can be assessed now, and that fusion may follow a “learning by doing” path seen in other deep-technology sectors. The paper presents a proposed evaluation method, not demonstrated commercial results.