Timeline and Design-Stage Status

The breeder leads on a defined timeline; the burner that delivers resilient power is a later machine gated on its own physics.

The timeline, stated plainly

The breeder (Hyperion) construction begins Q2 2027, with first-of-a-kind (FOAK) first tritium targeted around 2030; next-of-a-kind (NOAK) and best-of-a-kind (BOAK) units follow. There is no hardware net-gain claim before FOAK. The burner that would provide resilient installation power is a subsequent, harder programme.

Why the breeder comes first

• It proves the harder D–T fuel-cycle physics in hardware.
• It breeds the helium-3 and tritium the burner needs (fuel gate).
• It produces 14 MeV neutrons to qualify burner materials (plug-stress gate).

Where the burner sits

The burner's resilient-power promise is contingent on closing its plug-stress (3–3.9×), plug-regime (166–830×), fuel-supply (~400×), and availability (0.86–0.995) gates. None is closed today. The burner is therefore a design-and-simulation study whose fielding lies beyond the breeder's demonstration and beyond intermediate experiments that must anchor the plug regime.

Stating the timeline honestly — breeder now, burner later, both gated — is essential. Resilient sovereign power from fusion is a direction with a credible first step (the breeder) and a demanding path beyond it, not a near-term product.

Breeder first, for concrete reasons

The breeder leads because it proves the harder D–T fuel-cycle physics in hardware, breeds the helium-3 and tritium the burner needs, and produces 14 MeV neutrons to qualify burner materials. The burner's resilient-power promise is contingent on closing its four gates, none closed today, so its fielding lies beyond the breeder's demonstration and beyond the intermediate experiments that must anchor the plug regime.