El Segundo, Calif.–based start-up Valar Atomics has taken its Ward 250 test reactor critical at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company in the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program to reach the milestone, and, according to the DOE, the first to do so outside a national laboratory.

The DOE celebrated the achievement in a June 18 announcement, describing it as a "zero-power fueled criticality demonstration." The news follows a similar update for Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor, which the DOE said achieved criticality at Idaho National Laboratory earlier this month.

The applications of nuclear energy extend beyond providing power to the electrical grid. Advanced nuclear technologies may soon have new applications in oil and gas facilities, in hospitals and clinics, on the open seas, and on the moon.

A June 1 executive session, “How Nuclear Technologies will Shape the Future Energy Economy,” at the American Nuclear Society’s Annual Conference allowed experts have an open discussion on the future of nuclear advancements in multiple sectors.

Washington, D.C. — Mark Peters, President of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), issued the following statement:

The Department of the Air Force has selected three companies to be potential developers and operators of microreactors at Air Force installations as part of the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program: Radiant Industries, Antares Nuclear, and Westinghouse Government Services.

The American Nuclear Society recently hosted a panel discussion featuring prominent figures from the nuclear sector who discussed the industry’s ongoing push for criticality.

Yasir Arafat, chief technical officer of Aalo Atomics; Jordan Bramble, CEO of Antares Nuclear; and Rita Baranwal, chief nuclear officer of Radiant Industries, participated in the discussion and covered their recent progress in the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program. Nader Satvat, director of nuclear systems design at Kairos Power, gave an update on the company’s ongoing demonstration projects taking place outside of the landscape of DOE authorization.

Two participants in the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program have recently announced significant milestones on their associated reactor projects. Aalo Atomics successfully completed its final design review (FDR), and Antares Nuclear has received DOE approval of its preliminary documented safety analysis (PDSA).

It has been about three months since the Department of Energy named 10 companies for its new Reactor Pilot Program, which maps out how the DOE would meet the goal announced in May by Executive Order 14301 of having three reactors achieve criticality by July 4, 2026.

The race to bring test reactors on line by July 4, 2026, got a boost today when the Department of Energy unveiled the names of 10 companies selected for the Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program—a new pathway that allows reactor authorization outside national labs.

As first outlined in one of the four executive orders on nuclear energy released by President Trump on May 23 and in the request for applications for the Reactor Pilot Program released June 18, the companies must use their own money and sites—and DOE authorization—to get reactors operating. What they won’t need is a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced on September 24 four new GAIN vouchers. GAIN—the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear—selected four companies to receive vouchers to advance microreactor technologies, identify potential sites capable of hosting a nuclear-powered data center, and prevent corrosion in molten salt reactors.