14 MeV Neutron Production

Each D-T reaction emits a 14.1 MeV neutron; at 85.0 MW this fixes the neutron production rate that the entire foundry depends on.

The foundry's raw output

The 14.1 MeV neutron from the D-T reaction is the product of the breeder. Uncharged, it is unaffected by the magnetic field and streams out of the plasma into the surrounding structure, carrying about four-fifths of the fusion energy. At 85.0 MW fusion power the neutron production rate is fixed, and every downstream product is metered against it.

A 14 MeV neutron is unusually energetic — far above fission-spectrum neutrons — which is precisely what makes it valuable. It can drive threshold reactions, breed tritium in lithium, transmute isotopes, and test materials under fusion-relevant damage conditions that no other source reproduces at scale.

From neutrons to products

The neutron budget divides among competing sinks: breeding tritium in the lithium blanket, producing the helium-3 coproduct through subsequent tritium decay, activating target materials for isotope services, and unavoidable losses and absorption. How that budget is allocated — especially how much goes to breeding — is what the tritium-breeding-ratio lever controls, and it is a design-and-simulation balance rather than a fixed allocation. Every product the foundry sells is, in the end, a claim on this one neutron budget, which is why the breeding-ratio lever and the coverage questions elsewhere in this section bear so directly on what the machine can actually deliver.

• 14.1 MeV neutron per D-T reaction, ~80% of the fusion energy
• Unaffected by the magnetic field — escapes to the blanket
• Budget split among breeding, coproduct, services, and losses

This page describes a design-and-simulation study, not a built machine. Construction begins Q2 2027; first-of-a-kind first tritium is targeted near 2030. No hardware net-gain is claimed before FOAK.