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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. Saastamoinen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 25 | Number 3 | July 1966 | Pages 261-265
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE66-A17833
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The relaxation of neutron spectrum near a temperature discontinuity is studied both theoretically and experimentally. The P1 approximation and Nelkin's model for light water are used. When the temperature difference is 45°C, theoretical values of 4.5 and 4.6 mm for the relaxation lengths on the warmer and colder side of the discontinuity are obtained. The experimental value is about 2.3 mm. Thus, there is large disagreement between the experimental and theoretical results. The reason for this cannot be pinpointed, but the following explanations are possible. 1) transport effects, 2) inapplicability of Nelkin's model, and 3) insufficient accuracy of the trial functions for flux and the treatment of its energy-dependence.