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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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May 2026
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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.
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.