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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.
José M. Aragonés, Carol Ahnert
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 94 | Number 4 | December 1986 | Pages 309-322
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE86-A18343
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A linear discontinuous finite difference formulation to solve the diffusion equations in coarse mesh and few groups is developed. The correction factors for heterogeneities, coarse mesh, and spectral effects are general interface flux discontinuity factors that can be explicitly calculated (synthetized) from detailed diffusion or transport solutions in fine mesh (heterogeneous) and multigroups, preserving the integrated fluxes and interface net currents. The stability is explicitly established for general synthetizations and for specific fine to coarse mesh and group reductions. Computing methods have been implemented for one-group (grey) synthetic diffusion acceleration, two-dimensional nodal/local solutions, and three-dimensional nodal simulation of pressurized water reactor cores. Results demonstrate the simplicity and stability of the formulation, a regular behavior of the correction factors, an outstanding acceleration performance, and high potential for parallel and vector computing.