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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.
Gerald Klotzkin, Richard W. Swanson, Paul Hart, L. J. Harrison
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 86 | Number 2 | February 1984 | Pages 206-218
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE84-2
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Studies have been conducted at the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) to determine the variation during transient irradiation experiments of the ratio of axial midplane test fuel power to reactor power as measured by ex-core ion chamber current. It is shown that the dependence of this ratio on core temperature is generally small. However, effects due to control rod motion can be substantial. A simple mathematical expression that predicts the dependence of this ratio on control rod position is shown to give good agreement with integral experimental data. This work makes possible refinements in obtaining the desired power-versus-time behavior in test fuel by accounting for the effects of instantaneous position of control rods and core temperature during transient operation.