The gate program, in depth.

The gate program is the bridge between the open questions and a built machine. Each gate is a measurement of one named requirement — pass to proceed, fail to revise.

Gate 1

Confinement — the breeder's H₉₈ ≈ 2.28 bet

Gate 2

Exhaust — the ≈90% radiated-fraction requirement

Burner gate

Plug-density physics (the largest open item)

Rule

One gate, one falsifiable claim

Each gate exists to convert a named open question into a measured result, in priority order.

1. Confinement (Gate 1). The testbed measures whether the plasma reaches the required confinement multiplier (H₉₈ ≈ 2.28). Because the breeder's gain depends on it, this is measured first — the load-bearing verification that nonlinear gyrokinetics has not yet completed.
2. Exhaust (Gate 2). Whether the divertor can meet the ≈90% radiated-fraction requirement at the design heat flux — currently a requirement quoted outside the fitted data range.
3. Burner plug physics. Whether end-plug density can approach the ratio the closing point requires — the burner's decisive gate.

Every gate is bound to a falsifiable claim, so the program is also a schedule for how Kronos could be proven wrong — deliberately.