ASME Pressure and Structural Codes

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code governs the vacuum vessel, cooling, and pressure-retaining structures.

The boundary must not fail

A fusion plant contains vacuum vessels, cooling circuits, and pressure-retaining components whose failure would be serious. The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) is the dominant standard governing the design, materials, fabrication, and inspection of such components, backed by more than a century of engineering experience.

Where it applies at Kronos

• The vacuum vessel and its penetrations, which hold the plasma boundary.
• Cooling and heat-removal circuits for magnets and structures.
• Tritium and fuel-system pressure boundaries requiring containment-grade integrity.
• Support structures reacting large electromagnetic loads.

Codes as a readiness input

Designing to ASME from the outset means the structural design space is constrained by allowable stresses, qualified materials, and inspectable geometries — not by optimistic assumptions. This intersects with materials standards: a code allowable is only valid for a qualified material with known behavior under service conditions, including the neutron environment. Code compliance is part of what makes a design buildable and, later, licensable.

Kronos states code intent publicly; it does not claim certification of components that have not been built and stamped.