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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.
W. Hage, D. M. Cifarelli
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 89 | Number 2 | February 1985 | Pages 159-176
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE85-8
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A mathematical model is derived for the probability distribution of neutron signal multiples inside randomly and signal triggered time intervals for a generalized time response function of the neutron detector assembly. The theory is applied to assemblies with an exponential time decay of its neutron population. The probability distributions, their factorial moments, and moments are expressed as a function of the spontaneous fission rate, (α-n) reaction rate, neutron detection probability, probability that a neutron generates a fast fission, and nuclear data. Measurements with a plutonium sample are analyzed to check the derived algorithms for the factorial moments of the two probability distributions.