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Getting the balance right—Considerations of lithium enrichment for the fusion fuel cycle with a focus on nuclear non-proliferation
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DOI：10.1016/j.joule.2026.102596.png)
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Abstract
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Fusion is often presented as a future low-carbon energy source, but its deployment depends on more than plasma performance. It is also a materials-governance challenge. Tritium will likely need to be bred from lithium inside the reactor, which makes lithium-6 a strategically important fuel-cycle material. This paper shows that the very high lithium-6 enrichments proposed in some breeder blanket concepts should be assessed not only against tritium-breeding performance but also against proliferation risk, enrichment cost, supply-chain scalability, and the practical realities of blanket design. Across those dimensions, the highest enrichments appear difficult to justify. Tritium-breeding gains rise strongly at first, but the benefits diminish at higher enrichment while the economic and policy costs escalate.
Keywords:
nuclear fusion
fusion
nuclear non-proliferation
lithium
lithium enrichment
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