Deep Dive: The Plant Power Flow

How 2.41 GW of fusion power becomes 0.61–0.84 GWe net — through the charged/neutron split, direct conversion, and the plant's own recirculating loads.

Fusion power

≈ 2.41 GW ceiling / ~1.5 GW baseline

Neutron fraction

~5.25% (low-neutron)

Recirculating

Heating (62 MW CD), magnets, cryo, BOP

Net electric

0.61–0.84 GWe per unit

Following the energy from fusion reactions to grid electricity shows where a fusion plant's performance is won and lost. In Kronos MetroVolt (deposited power-flow analysis S57):

• Fusion power of ≈ 2.41 GW (hot-ion ceiling) or ~1.5 GW (near-thermal baseline) is produced in the plasma.
• Only about 5.25% emerges as neutrons (the low-neutron advantage); the majority is charged particles and radiation.
• Direct energy conversion captures the charged-particle and radiated energy at a blended efficiency, producing gross electricity without a steam cycle.
• The plant's own recirculating loads — 62 MW of current drive, the magnets, the cryoplant, and balance of plant — are subtracted.
• What remains is 0.61–0.84 GWe net (engineering gain Q_eng ≈ 2.1–2.7).

Minimizing recirculating power — especially via a high bootstrap fraction — is as important to the net number as the fusion power itself. See engineering gain.