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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.
James F. Stubbins
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 1 | July 1983 | Pages 102-119
Technical Paper | Icf chamber Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22779
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Thermionic power production is shown to be a viable technique for increasing dry-wall inertial confinement fusion (ICF) power output. Thermionic cells produce electricity directly in a topping cycle run off the high temperatures generated at the first vacuum wall by the absorption of fusion product x rays and charged particles. The high temperatures are used to heat the thermionic emitter, which is an integral part of the first wall The principal engineering consideration is the means of providing the emitter with a high steady-state operating temperature, while the reactor itself operates a pulsed mode with ICF events occurring at between 1 and 20/s. It is shown that several design variables, including materials selection, first-wall thickness, and target firing rate can be chosen to satisfy the emitter temperature requirements. Furthermore, heating requirements do not rely on neutron attenuation, so neutrons can be conserved to meet tritium breeding requirements in the blanket. Several other aspects of the thermionic system design and engineering are discussed. These are related to the current state of development of thermionic convertors, and to possible further advances in the technology.