The 26.49 T Plug-Magnet Gate

MetroVolt’s plug needs a 26.49 T field and the throat 17 T — at the frontier of high-field superconducting magnets, partially de-risked by the breeder.

Fields at the frontier

The burner design calls for a 26.49 T plug field and a 17 T throat field. These are high even by modern high-temperature-superconductor standards. Building magnets that reach and hold these fields reliably, with the forces and quench protection they imply, is a serious engineering gate.

This gate is partial, not open: the breeder (Hyperion) program develops high-field superconducting magnets (its own peak field is 16.84 T, 8 T on-axis) and the cryogenics to run them. That experience transfers directly. The burner still pushes further, so the plug magnet remains a first-order engineering item.

What passing looks like

Passing means a plug magnet that reaches 26.49 T, tolerates the structural loads, protects against quench, and runs for realistic durations — first as a prototype, then integrated in the ~2032 test unit.

• Requirement: 26.49 T plug, 17 T throat, sustained and safe.
• Basis: breeder high-field magnet and cryogenics experience.
• Remaining: the incremental step to plug-class fields at the burner.