Helium-3 and the Planet
The burner's fuel is largely aneutronic and clean in reaction, but helium-3 is scarce on Earth; we name that gate plainly.
A cleaner reaction, a harder supply
The burner (Aegis / MetroVolt) fuses deuterium with helium-3. This reaction is largely aneutronic: only 5.44% of its energy appears as neutrons, compared with the neutron-dominated D-T reaction. Fewer neutrons means less activation of surrounding structure and a lighter waste burden. Direct energy conversion further shapes a favorable environmental profile.
The honest gate: supply
Helium-3 is genuinely scarce on Earth. A large burner fleet would require a helium-3 supply that does not currently exist at scale. We do not hide this behind the clean reaction. It is a real, unresolved gate on the burner path, and any environmental benefit of the burner is conditional on that supply problem being solved.
- Reaction advantage: low neutron fraction (5.44%), less activation
- Conversion advantage: direct energy conversion reduces thermal load
- Supply constraint: helium-3 scarcity is a genuine, unsolved gate
We keep the two facts deliberately side by side so neither hides the other. The reaction's cleanliness is a genuine physics advantage that would matter if the burner closes. The supply scarcity is a genuine obstacle that no amount of clean-reaction language dissolves. Honest communication about the burner means always presenting both, which is why this page refuses to lead with only the good half.
We treat the reaction's cleanliness as a physics fact and the supply as an open problem, side by side. Neither cancels the other. See fusion waste, stated honestly and what we will not claim.