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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.
H. B. Xu, L. Nie, G. L. Zhu, C. Y. Chen, W. Pan, D. Q. Liu, Z. Cao, M. Xu
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 2 | February 2019 | Pages 98-103
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2018.1554389
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A shattered pellet injector (SPI) based on in situ technology was developed in the HL-2A tokamak. In this paper, the basic principle of pellet formation is introduced, the mechanism of a SPI is described in detail, and test results are presented. Bench test experimental results show that reliable formation and acceleration of a large nitrogen pellet (diameter of ∼3.5 × 4 mm) were obtained. A double-impact tube was developed and tested for effective and reliable shattering of the pellet.