The Breeder FOAK Milestone (~2030)

First tritium from the first-of-a-kind breeder around 2030 is the program's first hardware milestone and the earliest source of any burner fuel.

What FOAK first tritium means

First-of-a-kind (FOAK) first tritium is the moment the breeder demonstrates its core function: breeding tritium in a real machine. Targeted around 2030, it is the first hardware net-gain-relevant milestone of the entire program. No burner milestone precedes it.

The tritium breeding ratio lever

The breeder treats tritium breeding ratio (TBR) as a design lever across 1.1, 1.5, and 1.8. A higher TBR means more tritium bred per fusion, which — after decay — means more helium-3 for burners. The chosen TBR shapes how quickly a burner fuel supply can grow.

Why the burner waits on it

Until FOAK proves breeding in hardware, the helium-3 supply for Aegis is a projection. FOAK converts that projection into a measured breeding rate, which is what a test burner around 2032 depends on.

FOAK is the moment a projection becomes a measured rate. Until the first-of-a-kind breeder breeds tritium in hardware, the burner's helium-3 supply is an estimate resting on the chosen tritium breeding ratio; after FOAK, it rests on a number the machine actually produced. That is why we tie the burner's earliest possible date to a breeder milestone rather than to a burner one.

See the TBR lever and no net gain before FOAK.