First Plasma

First plasma is the moment the commissioned breeder confines its first ionized fuel, the start of the path to the confinement gate.

The first plasma milestone

First plasma is achieved when the machine, with magnets energized and vessel under vacuum, forms and confines its first plasma. It is a low-parameter event, far below the design operating point, but it confirms that the core systems work together: field, vacuum, fueling, and control.

What first plasma confirms

• The magnet system produces a confining field the plasma responds to
• Vacuum and fueling systems deliver and hold the plasma
• Plasma control and diagnostics function on a real discharge
• The machine is integrated well enough to operate

What it does not confirm

First plasma is not gain, not the design current of 9.66 MA, and not neutron production at scale. It is the beginning of a ramp: from first plasma the program builds current, field, and heating toward the Q_sci 3.076 operating point, which is where the confinement gate G1 is judged.

From first plasma to the design point

The path from first plasma to full performance is incremental and heavily instrumented, so that each step is compared to the pre-registered predictions for confinement and gain. Problems found here, control instabilities, unexpected losses, are exactly what a first-of-a-kind machine is built to find.

First plasma follows commissioning and precedes the confinement gate. It is a planned milestone for a machine not yet built; no plasma performance is claimed as demonstrated until it is measured on hardware.