A single D-T plasma in Hyperion yields three distinct product streams: tritium for the national requirement, helium-3 as its decay co-product, and 14 MeV neutrons for materials qualification. The breeder's value is that all three come off the same machine.
D-T fusion is neutron-rich by nature. Hyperion turns that into an asset: the blanket breeds tritium (breeding ratio 1.8), the tritium decays into helium-3, and the fast-neutron flux is itself a product for irradiation testing. One core, three streams.
Each stream addresses a genuine supply gap. The programme carries them honestly — tritium as the primary product stream, helium-3 as upside, and beam-hours for neutron irradiation carried at zero because that market is unpriced anywhere in the world — so no stream is double-counted.
| Stream 1 | tritium (national requirement) |
| Stream 2 | helium-3 (decay co-product) |
| Stream 3 | 14 MeV neutrons (materials qual) |
| Breeding ratio | 1.8 |
| Neutron beam-hours | carried unpriced, never banked |