Plant Lifetime (30 Full-Power-Years)

Kronos designs and prices MetroVolt on a 30 full-power-year basis — long enough that the low-neutron first wall lasts without replacement.

Design basis

30 full-power-years

Sensitivity

40 years only as a labelled sensitivity

First wall

Lasts the full 30 FPY (30 dpa ≤ 36 dpa)

Enabled by

Low-neutron wall loading

Plant lifetime is the span over which a reactor is designed to operate and over which its economics are computed. Kronos designs and prices MetroVolt on a 30 full-power-year basis — a conservative, honest number — carrying 40 years only as a clearly labelled sensitivity rather than the headline.

What makes 30 full-power-years meaningful is that the low-neutron first wall actually lasts that long: about 30 dpa against a 36 dpa qualification, so it never needs replacement (analysis S81). That is a sharp contrast with a D–T plant, whose neutron-battered breeding blanket forces repeated changeouts — and it is a direct input to the LCOE and availability that define the plant's economics.