Breeder 14 MeV Neutrons

The breeder's D-T reaction is strongly neutronic; those 14 MeV neutrons breed tritium and helium-3 and are managed by design.

The breeder (Hyperion) fuses deuterium and tritium, a reaction that releases most of its energy as high-energy 14 MeV neutrons. This is the opposite of the burner's low-neutron profile, and Kronos states it plainly. Those neutrons are not merely a byproduct to shield against — they are functional: they breed the plant's own fuel and enable its isotope products.

Neutrons that do work

The 14 MeV neutrons pass into a lithium-bearing blanket where they breed tritium, with the tritium breeding ratio treated as a design lever across 1.1, 1.5, and 1.8. The same neutron economy underpins the breeder's product streams: a tritium class of roughly 4 kg/yr, helium-3 of roughly 1.97 kg/yr, and the 14 MeV neutrons themselves as a resource. The neutrons are central to the breeder's purpose, not incidental.

Honest handling

A strong neutron flux means the breeder requires robust shielding and produces activation in its structures — real considerations addressed in the safety and waste pages, and mitigated by low-activation material choices. Kronos does not present the breeder as low-neutron; it is honestly a deuterium–tritium machine whose neutrons are both its greatest engineering demand and the mechanism behind its fuel self-sufficiency and isotope products.

• The breeder's D-T reaction releases most energy as 14 MeV neutrons.
• Those neutrons breed tritium in the lithium blanket (TBR lever 1.1/1.5/1.8).
• They also underpin helium-3 and neutron-source product streams.
• Strong flux requires shielding and produces activation, managed by design.

Design-and-simulation framing. The Kronos machines are today design and simulation studies: the breeder (Hyperion) and the burner (Aegis / MetroVolt). No hardware net-gain has been demonstrated. Breeder construction is planned to begin Q2 2027, with first-of-a-kind (FOAK) first tritium targeted around 2030. Comparisons on this page are qualitative and use only public, defensible figures; nothing here is a performance guarantee.

The breeder's neutron intensity is stated openly: a demanding engineering feature that is also the source of its fuel and isotope value.