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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.
K. L. Peddicord, T. L. George, T. C. Kennedy
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 86 | Number 3 | March 1984 | Pages 253-266
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE84-A17554
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The major components of a numerical model (SPECKLE-III) for the irradiation behavior of mixed-carbide Sphere-Pac fuel are described. Based on user-supplied power and outer cladding temperature history, radial profiles for the pin temperature, restructuring, fission gas behavior, and stress distribution are calculated at several axial locations as a function of irradiation time. Finite difference and finite element methods are used to solve the quasi-steady, axisymmetric governing equations. Axial slip at the fuel cladding interface is also modeled. The effects of temperature and restructuring on the fuel thermal and mechanical properties are included. Representative results are presented for a Sphere-Pac fuel irradiation experiment.