Seedlabs

³He Fuel-Blend Planner for D–³He Burners

A calculator for fusion plant operators to find the best mix of helium fuel to get the most power.

A planning tool that takes a fusion operator's helium-3 supply (kg/yr from a breeder or stockpile) and returns the optimal D–³He fuel blend — how much ³He to procure versus how much neutron output to accept — inside the window where the machine still produces net power.

Physics and AstronomyMagnetic confinement fusion research
Urban Stormwater and Fluid ManagementFusion energy — fuel-cycle procurement and operations planning for D–³He burners

Concept

A fixed-scope software tool (delivered as a licensed calculator or a study service) that answers one question for a D–³He mirror-burner operator: given the helium-3 you can actually get, what fuel blend should you run? Inputs: (1) the burner's published closure window and neutron-fraction curve as a function of ³He atom fraction x(³He); (2) a ³He supply scenario — kg/yr from a co-located Hyperion-class breeder, stockpile draw, or market purchase; (3) site constraints (net MWe target, neutron shielding and licensing budget). Output: the recommended operating x(³He), the annual ³He burn rate at that point, the resulting neutron fraction and net power, and a contamination alarm line — the blend below which the machine stops closing. The wedge is fuel procurement and operating-point planning; the tool does not design the machine and does not estimate LCOE or price.

Why now

Paper [0] makes the fuel blend a quantified, closed trade-off for the first time: the burner closes across x(³He) ∈ [0.20, ~0.43], with the neutron fraction falling from 9.53% to 2.77% across that window; the design point x = 0.30 delivers Q_E 1.31 at f_n 5.44%, and a "free clean-shift" to x = 0.35 cuts f_n to 4.18% while remaining net-positive — but x ≥ 0.45 does not close. Paper [0] also names the ³He supply requirement as a gating extrapolation, and the companion breeder study [2] establishes the supply side: a compact spherical-tokamak strategic-materials platform that co-produces ³He alongside tritium. With supply capability (from [2]) and blend-vs-closure sensitivity (from [0]) both now published as numbers, the matching calculation — how much breeder output, at what enrichment, buys how much neutron reduction — becomes a concrete deliverable rather than a research question.

Written by GLM · 9 Oct 2026

AI assessment

Backed by 2 papers89

A highly focused operational tool that translates specific fusion physics trade-offs into a procurement strategy, though it targets a nascent market of experimental reactors.

Evidence strength
5/5
The idea directly maps the quantitative closure windows and neutron-fraction curves from Paper [0] to the supply capabilities detailed in Paper [1], creating a tight logical loop.
Market pull
3/5
While the named beneficiaries are real entities, the market is currently limited to a few experimental firms and government programs until D-He3 burners reach commercial viability.
Novelty & moat
5/5
The tool addresses a highly specialized physics-to-procurement gap in fusion energy, bearing no meaningful similarity to the listed fleet or EV energy tools.
Feasibility
5/5
The tool is a deterministic calculator based on published curves and constants, making it trivial to build as a prototype.
Wedge clarity
4/5
The wedge is sharp: solving the specific 'how much He-3 do I need to buy to hit my neutron target' problem for operators.
Simplicity / focus
5/5
The scope is strictly limited to a fuel-blend calculator, avoiding the common pitfall of attempting to design the reactor or model the entire LCOE.

Scored by Gemma 4 · 9 Oct 2026. Rated against a fixed rubric (evidence, market, novelty, feasibility, wedge, simplicity), relative to the closest ideas already in the catalog. A prior estimate to compare ideas before real-world signal arrives.

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Who benefits

  • Kronos Fusion Energycompany

    Its tandem-mirror burner closes only inside x(³He) ∈ [0.20, ~0.43]; the planner converts that window into a concrete ³He procurement schedule and operating point for MetroVolt and Aegis deployments.

  • Helion Energycompany

    Helion produces and plans to sell ³He from D-D fusion; a tool that quantifies how burner operators trade enrichment against neutron fraction gives its fuel offtake a defensible, physics-based value.

  • TAE Technologiescompany

    A D–³He developer; fuel-fraction trade-offs between gain and neutron output apply directly to its long-range fuel planning.

  • U.S. DOE Isotope Programorganization

    It stewards the U.S. helium-3 inventory and allocation; a demand model tied to demonstrated burner enrichment tolerances helps it forecast fusion-driven ³He demand.

Research it builds on

  1. Hyperion as a Strategic-Materials Platform: Gain, Tritium Breeding, He-3 Co-Production, and 14 MeV Neutron Output from a Compact Spherical-Tokamak
    Priyanca Ford, G L Kulcinski · 2026 · 167 citations
    All ideas from this paper →
  2. [SUPERSEDED] Aegis and MetroVolt: A Deuterium-Helium-3 Tandem-Mirror Generator
    Priyanca Ford, Gerald L Kulcinski · 2026 · 154 citations
    All ideas from this paper →
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feasibility