DOE’s Huff: VTR is key to sustained advanced reactor innovation

August 3, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News
A rendering of the VTR facility. (Image: INL)

Kathryn Huff, the Department of Energy’s acting assistant secretary for nuclear energy, asserted in an article published online by the Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) on July 30 that demonstration reactors, such as the Natrium and Xe-100 reactors being built as full-size power producers with cost-shared funding from the DOE, and test reactors, such as the Versatile Test Reactor, are both necessary for nuclear innovation. Both are also line items in the DOE budget request, and Huff’s article sends a clear message to appropriators about the need to fund both the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) and the VTR.

To continue reading, log in or create a free account!

Related Articles

My story: Abraham Weitzberg, ANS member since 1962

November 25, 2025, 9:31AMANS NewsAbraham Weitzberg

My first exposure to nuclear engineering was in 1956–57 when I was a fourth-­year chemical engineering undergraduate at MIT. The previous summer, I worked at an oil refinery in New Jersey...

X-energy begins irradiation testing at INL

November 12, 2025, 3:01PMNuclear News

Advanced reactor and fuel developer X-energy has officially begun confirmatory irradiation testing at Idaho National Laboratory on its TRISO-X fuel. The testing, which is taking place over the...