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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.
N. A. Bulychev
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 81 | Number 8 | November 2025 | Pages 827-832
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2454185
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this study, copper and cobalt metal nanoparticles were fabricated using a plasma discharge in a hexane and toluene environment influenced by strong ultrasonic cavitation. The resulting nanoparticles were analyzed through methods of dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy, and further on, measurements of their surface electrokinetic potential. The findings indicate that the particles were spherical, measuring approximately 20 to 80 nm in size, and demonstrated substantial resistance to aggregation as well as to sedimentation.
The electrokinetic potential values of the nanoparticle surfaces were monitored during their interaction with the water-soluble polymer polyvinyl alcohol. It was demonstrated that ultrasonic effects positively impacted the electrokinetic potential of the metal nanoparticle surfaces. Additionally, the experiments highlighted the potential for conducting high-temperature plasma-chemical reactions that could be utilized in fusion technology.
Additional study in this area has demonstrated that nanoparticles of different compositions, created under these conditions, possess an active surface featuring many unbalanced bonds and defects due to intensive ultrasonic treatment. This enables them to effectively engage with both organic and inorganic substances and matrices, and moreover, facilitate the development of new hybrid organic-inorganic composite materials.