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Advanced Reactors

ARDP update: General Atomics finalizes conceptual design

December 2, 2025, 7:04AMNuclear News

The Department of Energy recently announced that General Atomics has successfully completed the conceptual design of its new helium gas–cooled fast modular reactor (FMR). This milestone moves the company one step closer to a target demonstration in the 2030s.

The details: According to the DOE, General Atomics completed its conceptual design through “various modeling and lab-scale tests to verify the performance of key safety systems, fuel, and operations.”

The company aims to manufacture its 44-MWe FMRs in-factory to then be assembled on sites as small as 0.2 acres. The reactor is also designed to be HALEU-fueled and can be paired with air-cooling systems.

The FMR is one of three early-stage concept projects supported by the DOE’s Advanced Reactor Concepts 2020 (ARC-20), which is part of the broader Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). The ultimate goal of the ARC-20 program is to assist the progression of advanced reactor designs through their earliest phases.

The other two projects progressing through ARC-20 are:

  • Advanced Reactor Concepts’ Inherently Safe Advanced SMR for American Nuclear Leadership, and
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Horizontal Compact High Temperature Gas Reactor.

Zooming out, ARC-20 is one of three programs that make up the ARDP. The second program is the nearest-term of the three and is focused on the fast-tracked commercialization of TerraPower’s Natrium reactor and X-energy’s Xe-100 reactor. The final program supports Kairos Power, Westinghouse Nuclear, BWX Technologies, Holtec International, and Southern Company.

Quotable: “The ARC-20 program has supported critical advances in the gas-cooled fast reactor concept and demonstration of robust materials that enable an added layer of safety, while still enabling operation without the need for a water source. These features facilitate siting and compatibility for small communities and diverse applications, including the recycling of used nuclear fuel,” said General Atomics vice president Christina Back.

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arc-20ardpfmrgeneral atomics
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