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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.
T. Shimooke
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 37 | Number 3 | September 1969 | Pages 343-357
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE69-A19111
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The phenomenon of neutron focusing by a totally reflecting conical tube is studied in terms of the focused neutron currents, the spectrum shift, and the gains in beam intensity and in increasing the reaction rate of a 1/v absorber. The influence of the source temperature, the angular spread of the source flux, the geometrical variations of the conical pipe, and the reflectivity are considered. Two different approximate formulations on the focused neutrons in a reflecting tube are established for the purpose of carrying out the numerical calculations. The formulation allows detailed calculations on each order of multiple reflection, taking the tube geometry into consideration. The analysis shows that relatively strongly focused neutron currents are attainable under proper conditions by means of a “focalizer,” a reflecting conical tube. The uses of a multistage focalizer are also suggested, showing examples where both intensity and a 1/v absorption rate in an exposed sample can be enhanced.