On June 4, Antares became the first to hit zero-power fueled criticality with its Mark-0 reactor. Simultaneously, it was declared the first novel reactor to achieve criticality at Idaho National Laboratory in more than 50 years. Two weeks later, Valar Atomics’ Ward 250 test reactor at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Utah became the second—but Valar was the first to hit the milestone outside a national laboratory.
DOE Secretary Chris Wright and Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner said the third is imminent. At a June 25 event in Idaho which was billed as a celebration of “the golden era” of nuclear power, Wright said he had authorized Aalo Atomics to proceed with its 10-MWe Aalo-X. In a separate interview with CNBC the same day, Wright said Aalo was “ready to go,” as it had proven the safety and integrity of its systems and design.
“This was a goal that people thought was not possible and I stand before you just days before the actual final July 4 [deadline]—before America's birthday—saying that I believe we will absolutely achieve that,” added Wagner at the event. “And that's not the end, several more will follow shortly thereafter.”
Wright, who had the opportunity to witness the progress of several reactor companies while in Idaho, said Deployable Energy, a company that was chosen for the DOE’s Nuclear Energy Launch Pad—the successor to the Reactor Pilot Program—in April, is “also on the cusp” of criticality. Wagner, meanwhile, said Radiant Industries is moving the components of its Kaleidos reactor into the National Reactor Innovation Center's Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed “right now.”
“That bold American spirit built the United States of America and made us what we are today,” Wright said. “We see that same aggressive, lean-in, bet-big-and-win spirit that made our country what it is it is in the room today. It is in the community, it is in the lab, and it is in the 10 companies that are partnering with us in getting these advanced reactors critical as quickly as possible.”
Idaho and nuclear energy: Last week’s event was a chance for federal, laboratory, and state officials to tout some of the significant nuclear updates over the last year and a half. Accomplishments the speakers listed included the following:
- The completion of NRIC's DOME ahead of schedule.
- The DOE’s announcement of $17.5 billion in conditional loans to help finance up to five twin-reactor projects to build 10 new AP1000 reactors.
- The launch of DOE’s Fuel Line Pilot Program and new efforts in domestic uranium enrichment.
The event was also a chance for officials to tout Idaho and INL’s role in nuclear research. It was in Idaho, in 1951, that Experimental Breeder Reactor-I became the first reactor to produce electricity from nuclear fission.
“We're not here today to commemorate a golden era that came and went—we are here to declare that one is just beginning. The truth is the future runs on energy,” said Idaho Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke. “It runs on the power that is constant and strong enough to carry the weight of all the things we hope to build . . . there is no source on earth more capable of carrying that weight than the atom. Idaho has always understood this.”
