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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.
Roger Raman, Kyle Morgan, Joshua A. Reusch, John A. Rogers, Stephanie J. Diem, Fatima Ebrahimi, Stephen C. Jardin, Brian A. Nelson, Masayuki Ono, Justin D. Weberski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 78 | Number 8 | November 2022 | Pages 649-663
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2022.2101833
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Transient coaxial helicity injection (transient CHI), first developed on the Helicity Injected Torus-II (HIT-II) and later on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) for implementing solenoid-free plasma current startup capability in a spherical tokamak (ST), is now planned to be tested on the PEGASUS-III ST using a novel double-biased configuration. Such a configuration is likely needed for transient CHI deployment in a reactor. The transient CHI system optimization will be studied on PEGASUS-III to enable startup toroidal persisting currents at the limits permitted by the external poloidal field coils. A transient CHI discharge is generated by driving injector current along magnetic field lines that connect the inner and outer divertor plates on one end of the ST. Simulations using the Tokamak Simulation Code are used to assess the transient CHI toroidal current generation potential and electrode gap location on the PEGASUS-III. While past transient CHI systems have used high-voltage, oil-filled capacitors for driving the injector current, for improved safety, PEGASUS-III will use a high-current capacitor bank based on low-voltage electrolytic capacitors. The designed and fabricated system is capable of over 32 kA. The modular design features permit the system to be upgraded to higher currents, as needed, to meet the future needs of the PEGASUS-III facility.