Design Targets vs Measurements
A design target is what a verified model predicts the machine should do; a measurement is what a built machine actually does. Kronos never lets the words blur.
Same units, different evidence
The breeder design point — Q_sci 3.424, 88.7 MW fusion power, 9.86 MA plasma current, 16.84 T peak field — is a set of design targets. They are computed from physics models we publish and that others can reproduce. A measurement is a number that comes out of a physical instrument on a built machine. Kronos has design targets today and no hardware measurements, because construction begins in 2027.
Language discipline
We reserve verbs for the right side of the gate. Design points are computed, predicted, targeted, or simulated. Only hardware results are measured, achieved, or demonstrated. If a sentence about Kronos uses an achievement verb for a number that came from a solver, that sentence is wrong and we correct it.
| Statement | Correct verb |
|---|---|
| Q_sci 3.424 from our solver | predicted / simulated |
| 88.7 MW in the design model | design target |
| First tritium in 2030 from FOAK | will be measured |
| Any 2026 hardware gain | does not exist |
Why not just say the number?
Because the same number means different things depending on where it came from. A reader deciding whether to trust, fund, or build on our work needs to know if they are looking at a hypothesis or a result. Stripping that context out makes a number look stronger than the evidence behind it — which is exactly the failure mode we refuse.
This discipline is checked mechanically in our build: pages are scanned for achievement language attached to design values.