Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Stability

The study of large-scale plasma instabilities that can degrade or end confinement.

Magnetohydrodynamics treats the plasma as a conducting fluid and predicts large-scale instabilities — kinks, tearing modes, ballooning modes — that can limit pressure or trigger disruptions. Staying MHD-stable bounds how much pressure and current a machine can safely run.

Kronos's negative-triangularity, moderate-q₉₅ design is a conservative point in MHD-stability space rather than an aggressive one.

MHD stability sets the hard ceilings on how much pressure and current a machine can safely hold. Ideal modes grow on the microsecond Alfvén timescale and must be avoided by design, while resistive modes like tearing grow more slowly and can be controlled. Kronos's conservative beta, moderate q and negative triangularity place the breeder in a benign region of this space.