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The deadline arrives: Checking in on the Reactor Pilot Program
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE,” which instructed the Department of Energy to create a Reactor Pilot Program (RPP)—a new system in which companies could pursue DOE authorization to build and test their first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies. EO 14301 set an ambitious goal for that program: three reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026.
D. C. Baxter, A. E. Dabiri, D. Dobrott, J. E. Glancy, H. Gurol, W. K. Hagan, J. B. McBride, S. Tamor, R. N. Cherdack
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 246-251
Alternate Fuels | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22876
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A quantitative comparison of the physics and technology requirements, and the cost and safety performance of a d-d tokamak relative to a d-t tokamak has been performed. The first wall/blanket and energy recovery cycle for the d-d tokamak is simpler, and has a higher efficiency than the d-t tokamak. In most other technology areas (such as magnets, RF, vacuum, etc.) d-d requirements are more severe and the systems are more complex, expensive and may involve higher technical risk than d-t tokamak systems. Tritium technology for processing the plasma exhaust, and tritium refueling technology are required for d-d reactors, but no tritium containment around the blanket or heat transport system is needed. Cost studies show that for high plasma beta and high magnetic field the cost of electricity from d-d and d-t tokamaks is comparable. Safety analysis shows less radioactivity in a d-d reactor but larger amounts of stored energy and thus higher potential for energy release. Consequences of all postulated d-d accidents are significantly smaller than those from d-t reactor tritium releases.