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Question
Why does Kronos use helium-3 instead of tritium?
Helium-3 gives a low-neutron reaction whose charged products can be converted directly to electricity — and Kronos breeds its own, sidestepping the scarcity problem.
The helium-3 choice is really a choice about neutrons and conversion. Fewer neutrons means most of the energy comes out charged, which is the only kind direct energy conversion can capture — and it means far less activation, shielding, and material damage.
The scarcity objection is real but answered at the fuel-cycle level, not the market.
Questions & answers
Why helium-3 rather than tritium?
Deuterium–helium-3 fusion is low-neutron and releases its energy mostly as charged particles, which a direct-energy converter can turn straight into electricity. Deuterium–tritium, by contrast, puts ~80% of its energy into neutrons and needs a steam cycle. The fuel choice and the conversion method are one decision.
Isn't helium-3 impossibly rare?
Terrestrial helium-3 is scarce, but Kronos doesn't rely on buying it — the plant breeds its own in the plasma via the catalyzed deuterium–deuterium branch. That turns a supply problem into a fuel-cycle engineering problem.
What's the catch?
D–³He is harder to ignite than D–T — it needs higher temperature and better confinement. Kronos accepts that harder plasma problem in exchange for a low-neutron, directly-convertible output, and tests the confinement bet at its gates.