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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.
Richard J. Pearson, Olivia Comsa, Liviu Stefan, William J. Nuttall
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 4 | May 2017 | Pages 610-615
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1290931
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The demand for tritium is expected to increase when ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) begins operation in the mid-2020s. Romania is expected to detritiate its CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) units at Cernavoda starting 2024, with the goal of improving radiological safety and reactor performance. Detritiation will result in a significant quantity of tritium being produced and thus Romania has an opportunity to supply tritium for fusion. In this assessment, ITER has been used as a reference device requiring tritium, as the projected tritium extraction schedule from Cernavoda aligns favourably with ITER operation. The findings suggest that Romania is capable of providing a total of 6.2 kg of tritium to ITER over its 20 year operation, generating a potential revenue of $186 M (USD). Opportunities associated with the supply of Romanian helium-3 are also considered as a hedging option, which has the potential to generate $120 M (USD) in the case of zero tritium sales. Greater involvement in future fission-fusion tritium-related activities through experience in tritium technologies is also discussed as a unique opportunity for Romania.