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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.
N. N. Ponomarev-Stepnoi, V. G. Bubelev, Ye. S. Glushkov, G. V. Kompaniets, V. I. Nosov
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 119 | Number 2 | February 1995 | Pages 108-115
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE95-A24075
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The hydrogen content of zirconium hydride blocks used as the moderator in Topaz-2-type space reactors is estimated according to correlation-regression analysis procedures of mathematical statistics and is based on the results of the definition of the reactivity of the blocks in a research critical assembly. A linear mathematical model for a variable response is formulated within the framework of the first-order perturbation theory applied to the estimation of reactivity effects in reactors. A PASPORT computer code is written based on the developed algorithm. The statistical analysis of the available data performed by using PASPORT shows that the developed approach allows determination of the insignificance of the contribution of the impurities to the reactivity of the blocks, verification of the manufacturer’s data on the hydrogen content in zirconium hydride blocks, and estimation of the reactivity shift in a standard block.