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Second round of Launch Pad selections includes eight newcomers
The National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory has announced 13 project selections across 12 companies for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, a Department of Energy–led program that integrates reactor and fuel facility authorization, testing, and deployment support for private nuclear developers.
The Launch Pad emerged from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program.
According to INL, projects selected include reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements, including fabrication, enrichment, and conversion technologies.
Xilong Tong, Xiaokang Zhang, Jia Li, Shanliang Zheng
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 82 | Number 4 | May 2026 | Pages 814-828
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2024.2448414
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Monte Carlo method is commonly applied in fusion neutronics to simulate particle transport calculations due to its ability to handle complex geometries and perform accurate calculations with continuous-energy cross-section data. FLUKA, a versatile particle transport calculator specializing in radiation shielding analysis, features an interactive modeling interface, Flair. FLUKA seems capable of calculating key fusion neutronics parameters, such as neutron energy spectra, material activity, and the shutdown dose rate (SDDR) in a single step, indicating its potential for fusion neutronics analysis.
This study uses the ITER SDDR experiment T-426 as a benchmark case. Besides the calculation results for the neutron flux and material activation between FLUKA and other commonly used tools that showed significant discrepancies, the calculated-to-experiment (C/E) values for the SDDR calculated by FLUKA after 7 days of shutdown ranged from 1.03 to 1.35, while the C/E values from other methods typically fall between 0.8 and 1.2. Although FLUKA is able to calculate various parameters of interest to fusion neutronics, it still requires further validation and development to better simulate neutron transport for fusion application.