Commissioning Plan
Commissioning brings the assembled breeder to life system by system, vacuum, cryogenics, magnets, then plasma, before the physics gates.
From assembled to operating
Commissioning is the staged bring-up of a fully assembled machine. Each subsystem is verified in isolation and then in combination, in an order that respects dependencies, before the machine is asked to make plasma or produce neutrons.
Commissioning stages
- Vacuum: pump down and leak-check the vessel to operating pressure
- Cryogenics: cool the magnets to operating temperature and verify margin
- Magnets: energize toward 16.84 T and verify field and quench protection (feeds G2)
- Plasma: first plasma at low parameters, then build toward the design point (feeds G1)
- Fuel loop: D-T operation, breeding, and tritium recovery (feeds G3)
Commissioning gates versus physics gates
Commissioning has its own acceptance checks, vacuum quality, cryogenic stability, magnet energization, that are engineering milestones. The physics gates (G1, G2, G3) sit on top of these: G2 is reached during magnet commissioning, G1 during plasma operation, and G3 at first tritium. Passing commissioning is necessary but not sufficient; the physics gates are the real demonstration.
Caution and honesty
Commissioning is where integration problems surface, subsystems that worked alone but interact badly together. The plan expects and instruments for this. Until commissioning is complete and the gates are passed, all performance figures remain design and simulation values for a machine not yet operated.