Deep Dive: Cold Start to Grid

The sequence that takes a Kronos plant from cold vacuum to grid power — breakdown, current ramp, heating to burn, and handoff to steady-state operation.

1

Evacuate and cool magnets

2

Gas breakdown → plasma

3

Ramp current (solenoid), heat to burn

4

Hand off to steady-state (bootstrap + CD)

Bringing a fusion plant online is a choreographed sequence, each step bounded by the machine's stability and hardware limits. For Kronos MetroVolt, the path from cold to grid runs:

• Prepare. Pump the vessel to ultra-high vacuum and cool the HTS magnets to operating temperature.
• Breakdown. Admit fuel gas and ionize it into a plasma.
• Ramp. Drive up the plasma current (largely via the central solenoid) while shaping the plasma to its δ = −0.30 form — the startup flux demand is analyzed in S05.
• Heat to burn. Apply auxiliary heating to reach 48 keV and establish fusion.
• Hand off. Transition to steady-state operation, with the bootstrap current and non-inductive drive sustaining the current, and deliver power to the grid.

Throughout, the digital twin and control stack hold the plasma inside its safety envelope. Any loss of input safely ends the burn.