Tokamaks vs Alternative Concepts
Beyond tokamaks and stellarators are FRCs, spheromaks, and magnetic mirrors — each a different bet. The tokamak is the most developed, and Kronos's choice.
- Tokamak
- Most developed; highest performance record
- Stellarator
- Steady, disruption-free; complex
- FRC / spheromak
- Compact, simpler; less mature
- Kronos
- Tokamak (spherical, high-field)
Magnetic fusion has more than two flavors. Alongside the tokamak and stellarator sit field-reversed configurations (FRCs), spheromaks, and magnetic mirrors — each trading performance, simplicity, and maturity differently.
| Concept | Character |
|---|---|
| Tokamak | Best-developed, strongest performance record; needs plasma current |
| Stellarator | Steady and disruption-free; complex 3D coils |
| FRC / spheromak | Compact and mechanically simpler; less experimentally mature |
| Magnetic mirror | Simple, linear; historically leaky at the ends |
Kronos chose the tokamak because it has by far the deepest physics basis and the strongest demonstrated performance — the foundation on which the design's high-field, negative-triangularity innovations build. The alternative concepts are promising research directions, but with a thinner experimental record to design a commercial plant against. See the main approaches to fusion.