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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.
Timothy M. Schriener, Mohamed S. El-Genk
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 349-354
Modeling and Simulations | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13444
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents the results of iterative neutronics and thermal-hydraulic design optimization of a liquid metal cooled reactor for lunar surface power. The reactor placed below grade on the lunar surface is capable of generating 1.0 MWth continuously for ~20 years without refueling. It satisfies subcriticality requirement for shutdown, during launch and when submerged in wet sand and flooded with seawater in the unlikely event of a launch abort accident. The 3-D thermal-hydraulic design ensures good flow distribution and cooling of UN fuel pins and adequate mixing in the exit duct.