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Antares achieves zero-power criticality at INL
Leveraging more than $140 million in private capital fundraising, over 322,000 square feet of operational manufacturing space, and multifaceted partnerships with the Departments of Energy and Defense, reactor start-up Antares has become the first company involved in the Reactor Pilot Program to achieve zero-power fueled criticality—a full month ahead of the July 4 deadline set by President Trump’s Executive Order 14301.
This milestone, announced yesterday, was achieved with the company’s Mark-0: a sodium heat-pipe-cooled, TRISO-fueled microreactor. The Mark-0 is a forerunner to the company’s flagship design, which it calls the R1. For Antares, this development represents a key validation of its reactor physics, control systems, and supply chain.
V. Bykov, K. Egorov, J. Fellinger, J. P. Kallmeyer, F. Schauer, M. Gasparotto
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 2 | September 2015 | Pages 267-271
Technical Paper | Proceedings of TOFE-2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-974
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The modular stellarator Wendelstein 7-X in Greifswald, Germany, is currently in the state of commissioning. The sophisticated superconducting magnet system with 50 non-planar and 10 planar coils will be operated at 4K and has to sustain high electromagnetic loads. The likewise quite complex cryostat comprises the outer vessel, plasma vessel, and 254 ports of different types connecting the plasma and outer vessels.
The magnet and cryostat systems are instrumented with more than 800 strain gauges, distance, and contact sensors. Implementation and expected results of this extended mechanical instrumentation is the scope of this paper.