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Question
How long does a fusion plant last?
Kronos designs MetroVolt on a 30 full-power-year basis, and its low-neutron first wall lasts that full life without replacement.
Long component life is a direct dividend of being low-neutron. See plant lifetime (30 FPY), dpa, and decommissioning.
Questions & answers
How long is a fusion plant designed to operate?
Kronos designs and prices MetroVolt on a 30 full-power-year basis — a conservative figure, with 40 years carried only as a labelled sensitivity. Over that life it generates firm, low-carbon power continuously.
Don't the components wear out from radiation?
In a D–T plant, the neutron-battered first wall and breeding blanket wear out and need repeated replacement. Kronos's low-neutron design changes this: the first wall accumulates only about 30 dpa over 30 full-power-years, within its 36-dpa qualification, so it lasts the full plant life without replacement.
What happens at end of life?
Decommissioning is easier than for fission — less activated material, shorter-lived, and no long-lived spent fuel, handled by the same remote-maintenance systems used in operation.