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The deadline arrives: Checking in on the Reactor Pilot Program
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE,” which instructed the Department of Energy to create a Reactor Pilot Program (RPP)—a new system in which companies could pursue DOE authorization to build and test their first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies. EO 14301 set an ambitious goal for that program: three reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026.
J. J. Mcinerney
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 17 | Number 3 | November 1963 | Pages 392-397
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE63-A17387
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Some aspects of the relation between the energy dependence of the scattering cross section and the spatial distribution of neutrons slowing down in a hydrogeneous moderator are discussed. The neutron population in an infinite medium is analyzed using the mean square slowing down distance, , as a measure of its spatial extent. It is shown that, contrary to what is perhaps expected, the neutron population in many cases is distributed closer to its source with decreasing energy. In the analysis of this behavior it is found that diffusion theory may in some cases be expected to give good results close to the spatial position of the source. A correction term is also found for the “first flight” transport kernel often used in practical calculations.