The Honest Gates Between Here and Power

A short list of physics and engineering gates stands between the MetroVolt design and a firm-power fleet — named plainly, not buried.

The gates, stated plainly

Rather than a single confidence number, the honest picture is a set of gates. Each is a question the design must answer with hardware, not argument. Some are partially addressed by the breeder program; others are specific to the burner.

How to read the statuses

Open means the answer is genuinely unknown and could revise the design. Partial means related work exists (in the breeder program or the wider field) but the burner-specific case is unproven. Design means the approach is specified and simulated but not built.

• No gate is closed by claiming it is closed.
• The test unit near 2032 is where the first-order gates are measured.
• Dates move before physics does — if a gate fails, the schedule yields.

Each gate has its own page in this section with the specific question, the current basis, and what would count as passing it.