14 MeV Neutron Services: Overview

The breeder (Hyperion) produces a stream of 14 MeV fusion neutrons that can irradiate materials and electronics for national-security-relevant qualification.

A neutron source, not only an isotope source

The breeder (Hyperion) is a compact D-T spherical tokamak sized to produce fusion gain, not net electricity. Its design point is a scientific gain Q_sci of 3.076 at 85.0 MW of fusion power. Every D-T fusion reaction releases a 14 MeV neutron; at that power level the machine is a strong, steady source of high-energy neutrons.

What a fusion neutron stream enables

Fusion neutrons at 14 MeV sit far above the energies produced by fission reactors or most laboratory sources. That energy is exactly the environment that fusion structural materials, advanced electronics, and detector concepts must survive. A domestic, controllable 14 MeV source supports three service families: materials irradiation, single-event-effects (SEE) testing of electronics, and neutron-based analytical methods.

• Materials irradiation and damage studies at fusion-relevant energy
• Single-event-effects and reliability testing of microelectronics
• Neutron radiography, activation analysis, and metrology

Honest framing

This page describes a design and simulation study, not a built machine. The breeder (Hyperion) begins construction Q2 2027; first-of-a-kind first tritium is targeted near 2030. No hardware net-gain is claimed before then.

Who uses neutron services

The customers for a 14 MeV capability are materials programs qualifying alloys for extreme environments, electronics programs certifying parts against radiation, and detection programs that depend on isotope co-products. Each needs repeatable access to a representative source. Concentrating three service families in one machine means a single, characterized flux serves all of them, and the characterization work, mapping flux at each test position, benefits every campaign that follows. The breeder is designed so that test positions can be instrumented and the neutron field at each one measured, which is what turns a physics device into a service instrument.

This is a public overview only. It contains no classified information, no operational detail, and no weapons-design content.