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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.
William W. Wadman III
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 35 | Number 2 | February 1969 | Pages 220-226
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE69-A21137
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The angular distribution, yield, spectra, and attenuation of fast neutrons from the alpha-particle bombardment of a thick elemental tantalum target have been measured. Data obtained by using threshold energy detectors and thermal-neutron detectors were reduced to neutron spectra with the computer program FLUXPOS. Thermal-neutron activation foils were placed in the shielding at 6-in. intervals to determine the neutron attenuation profiles at 0, 75, and 90° from the target. Data show that the neutron spectral slope becomes steeper and the relaxation length (1/e attenuation thickness) decreases with increasing angle.