Design Before Build
Kronos designs and simulates both machines fully before construction, and labels every result as a simulation finding until hardware can settle it.
Simulate first, build second
Kronos's method is to complete the design and simulation of a machine before committing metal to it, and to be explicit that the published results are simulation findings until the machine exists. Breeder construction is planned to begin in Q2 2027, with first-of-a-kind first tritium targeted around 2030. Everything published before that milestone is, by definition, design and simulation — and it is labeled that way.
Why the order matters
- Cheap failure: a design that breaks in simulation costs a rerun, not a machine. The four burner gates were found this way.
- Honest scoping: separating what a model shows from what hardware must prove keeps claims inside their evidence.
- Public checking: a simulation-stage program can be reproduced by anyone, long before a built machine could be visited.
The gate that never moves
No hardware net-gain claim is made before first-of-a-kind first tritium. That is the line the whole record respects: a simulated Q_sci of 3.424 is a design result, not a demonstration of net energy from a built machine. Blurring the two is the error we most want to avoid; see the honest gates.
Design as a public artifact
Because the design comes first and is published, the public can examine the machine as a design before it is a fact. The public 3D model and the public technical library are the readable form of that design; the deposits are its checkable form.
Designing in the open only works if you design before you build. We do, and we say which stage every number belongs to.