The Milestone Map
One picture of the program clock: breeder construction in 2027, breeder first tritium around 2030, a test burner around 2032, and a commercial unit around 2036.
The whole clock
The burner timeline is downstream of the breeder timeline. Reading left to right: the breeder starts construction in Q2 2027 and reaches FOAK first tritium around 2030; the first bred helium-3 then exists; a test burner is targeted around 2032; and a commercial burner around 2036.
Why each date is where it is
- 2027 — breeder construction begins; nothing burner-side can precede fuel
- ~2030 — breeder FOAK first tritium; the program's first hardware milestone
- ~2032 — test burner, first machine to operate near the burner design point
- ~2036 — commercial burner, only after test-burner data closes the gates
What the map does not promise
The map is a target sequence, not a guarantee. No burner net-gain is claimed before the breeder FOAK; the four gates must show real progress between 2032 and 2036 for the commercial date to hold. The dates move if the physics does not.
Every date on this map is a target contingent on the milestone before it, not a commitment on a calendar. The breeder anchors the sequence because it makes the fuel; if its first tritium slips, every burner date slips with it. Reading the map this way — as a chain of decision gates — is the only reading consistent with the design-and-simulation stage we are honestly in.