The burner's biggest loss channel is synchrotron radiation: at the reference point it carries 100 MW, 50.8% of the fusion power, as electrons spiraling in the strong field radiate. It is the loss that dominates the ledger and, therefore, the design's largest single uncertainty.
Electrons at ~92 keV gyrating in a multi-tesla field emit synchrotron radiation strongly. At the reference point this is 100.1 MW — more than the directed end loss, more than bremsstrahlung, more than the neutron power combined. It is the term the engineering gain is most sensitive to, and it grows with electron temperature and field.
Because synchrotron dominates the loss ledger, the accuracy of the synchrotron model largely decides whether the design closes. That is why the burner brackets it across published treatments rather than trusting a single formula — the honesty is in the uncertainty band.
| Synchrotron loss | 100.1 MW (reference) |
| Share of fusion power | 50.8% |
| Larger than | directed loss, brems, neutrons |
| Grows with | electron temperature, field |
| Role | dominant loss, largest uncertainty |