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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.
J. H. Kittel, S. H. Paine
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 3 | Number 3 | March 1958 | Pages 250-268
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE58-A25465
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Results are given from experiments in which unrestrained specimens of unalloyed natural uranium were irradiated to total atom burnups ranging up to 1.82% (15,500 Mwd/T) at temperatures from 50° to 220°C. A few specimens were also thermally cycled. The specimens represented material with four different fabrication histories: (1) rolled at 300°C, (2) rolled at 300°C and quenched from the beta phase, (3) rolled at 300°C, quenched from the beta phase, and recrystallized in the alpha phase, and (4) rolled at 600°C. It was found that the 300°C rolled specimens in the as-rolled condition grew in length at a rapid rate when subjected to irradiation, although they maintained relatively smooth surfaces. The growth rate of this material appeared to decrease with increasing irradiation temperature. The beta-quenched specimens were much more stable dimensionally but developed roughened surfaces. The 600°C rolled material showed intermediate behavior. It was concluded that 300°C rolled and beta-quenched uranium can withstand at least 2 atomic per cent burnup without disintegration due to irradiation damage. A qualitative similarity was found between the irradiation growth rates of the four materials and their growth rates under thermal cycling.