Operations Copilot: Commissioning and First-Campaign Support

Generating and sequencing the commissioning procedures that take the breeder from construction start (Q2 2027) toward FOAK first tritium (~2030).

Commissioning is the near-term product

Both Kronos machines are design-and-simulation studies; the breeder (Hyperion) begins construction in Q2 2027 with first-of-a-kind first tritium targeted around 2030. The nearest-term work the Operations Copilot supports is therefore commissioning: the ordered, gated sequence of tests that brings each subsystem online and validates it against the twin before the next is enabled.

Gated commissioning sequence

Commissioning proceeds through hardware-in-the-loop and staged energization gates. The copilot generates the procedure for each gate, defines the pass criteria against twin predictions, and holds progression until the prior gate is signed off by a human. It cannot advance a gate on its own.

• Cryogenic and vacuum commissioning to base conditions
• Staged magnet energization toward 16.84 T with quench-system validation at each step
• Poloidal-field and shape-control commissioning toward negative triangularity delta -0.30
• Fueling, heating, and diagnostic commissioning ahead of first plasma

commission(gate):
  proc = generate_procedure(gate.kind, 'breeder')
  pass_criteria = twin.predict(gate) +/- tolerance
  run under hardware-in-the-loop
  if measured within pass_criteria AND human_signoff:
     enable(next_gate)
  else: hold, raise to Engineering Copilot for analysis

Twin as the reference

Every commissioning measurement is compared to the twin's prediction; a mismatch is a finding routed to the Engineering Copilot, not a number to be explained away. This is how the twin is validated against the real machine as it comes online, and how the copilots earn calibrated confidence before they advise on real shots. No performance or net-gain claim is made during commissioning — the frozen design point (Q_sci 3.076, 85.0 MW) is a target the built machine must demonstrate.

For the burner (Aegis / MetroVolt) the same commissioning machinery applies to plug energization (26.49 T), ambipolar-potential establishment, and DEC-train bring-up on its own later schedule. See hardware-in-the-loop commissioning and honest gates.