The gate program.

Kronos does not plan to jump from paper to power plant. Its validation is staged: each gate measures the specific physics the next step depends on, starting with the breeder's biggest open item.

Idea

Measure the load-bearing physics before scaling

Gate 1

Confinement testbed (the breeder's H₉₈ bet)

Later gates

Exhaust, then burner plug physics

Principle

Retire the named risks in order

The open questions are ranked, and the gate program is built to retire them in order rather than all at once. The idea is simple: before committing to the next, more expensive step, measure the specific quantity that step depends on.

• Gate 1 — confinement. A confinement testbed targets the breeder's load-bearing bet: does the plasma reach the required confinement multiplier? This is the first thing to measure because everything else in the breeder rides on it.
• Later gates address the breeder's exhaust requirement and, for the burner, the plug-density physics that gates its closure.

Each gate is tied to a falsifiable claim: pass and proceed, fail and revise. It is how a design-stage company converts open questions into measured answers.