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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.
Yusha Li, Qing Liu, Zongxing Gu, Xiaoxu Dong, Zeyu Gao, Yingchun Zhang
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 81 | Number 7 | October 2025 | Pages 691-701
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2493408
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tungsten (W) coatings on a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy surface were obtained by pulsed current electrodeposition from Na2WO4-WO3-NaCl molten salt at different temperatures and current densities in an air atmosphere. The microstructure of the coating was observed, and the coating density, porosity, and hardness were tested. The results revealed W coatings with a silver-white metallic luster electrodeposited on the surfaces of a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy substrate when the temperature decreased from 1173 to 1023 K. The grain size and thickness of the W coatings changed significantly with current density, but the density, porosity, and hardness of the coating were slightly influenced by current density. The addition of NaCl refined the size of the tungsten grains in the W coatings. Among them, the W coating sample electrodeposited under 1123 K and 30 mA/cm2 current density had the best performance, with a relative density of 96.95%, a porosity of 1.11%, and a hardness of 502.4 HV.
