Conditions Travel with the Number
A Kronos number is never quoted alone; the assumptions and conditions that make it true travel with it, because a number without its conditions can mean anything.
A number is only true under its conditions
Every design value is true only under a set of conditions — operating point, model assumptions, scale, maturity. Strip those away and the number floats free, ready to be misread. Kronos keeps conditions attached: Q_sci 3.076 travels with 'in simulation, at the design point'; the neutron fraction travels with 'design-point D-3He'; yields travel with the assumed breeding case.
Conditions we always carry
- Source: simulated, projected, or measured
- Operating point: the design point, and the assumptions defining it
- Maturity: design study today, not built
- Dependencies: which open gate the number rests on (e.g. TBR, plug density)
Why this defeats the most common misuse
The easiest way to misrepresent a real number is to quote it without its conditions — a design-point gain repeated as a plant capability, a peak repeated as an average, a single machine's figure repeated as a fleet's. Binding the conditions to the number makes that harder to do by accident and obvious when done on purpose.
A number with its conditions is a complete statement. A number without them is a decoration, and decorations are where honesty quietly leaks away.