Fusion energy stands at the forefront of the global quest for sustainable and abundant clean power, offering the potential to revolutionize energy systems (Schultz in IEEE Control Syst Mag 26(2):32–34, 2006; Manheimer in Discov Sustain 1:4, 2020). It is commonly accepted that fusion has the potential to provide abundant, carbon-free energy, addressing two of the most pressing global challenges, such as climate change mitigation and energy security (Ward in Fusion Eng Des 82(5–14):528–533, 2007; Li et al. in J Knowl Econ, 2024). As nations strive to meet climate goals, fusion could complement renewables by delivering reliable baseload power, reducing dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets, geopolitically unstable energy supplies, and scarce resources like uranium or rare earth metals (Ward and Dudarev in Mater Today 11(12):46–53, 2008; Cabal et al. in Energy Strat Rev 15:1–8, 2017). According to Konishi (Fusion Sci Technol 47(4):1205–1209, 2005), if successfully deployed, fusion could dramatically improve energy access worldwide, particularly in developing nations. By providing a scalable, low-carbon power source, fusion could help these regions bypass fossil fuel dependence and reduce energy poverty (Sheffield in Philos Trans R Soc A Math Phys Eng Sci 357(1752):377–391, 1999).