The 2032 Test Unit
The burner is a design and simulation study today; the reference plan targets a burner test unit around 2032 to prove the physics in hardware.
Honest status of the burner
MetroVolt and Aegis are, as of now, a design and simulation study. No burner hardware exists, and no net-gain claim is made for the machine. The numbers used across these pages — the 26.49 T plug, 17 T throat, and 5.44% neutron fraction — are design-point results from modeling, stated with their conditions, not measurements from an operating device.
What the test unit proves
- That the ambipolar potential and thermal barrier can be built and held in steady state
- That the 26.49 T REBCO plug performs at scale
- That direct conversion works on real burner exhaust
- Component lifetimes, control, and the recirculating-power balance
Where it sits in the Kronos plan
The breeder (Hyperion) leads the program: its construction begins in Q2 2027, with first-of-a-kind first tritium around 2030, then NOAK and BOAK. The burner test unit around 2032 follows, using the magnet and materials experience the breeder builds. The two machines share the enabling REBCO technology, so progress on one de-risks the other.
This staged, evidence-first path is deliberate. The burner's advantages — near-zero water, firm co-located power, low neutron load — are compelling enough that the program states them plainly while being equally plain that they must be demonstrated. The test unit is where the design study meets hardware.