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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 H. Roach
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 8 | Number 6 | December 1960 | Pages 621-651
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE60-A25850
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A calculational survey of idealized fast breeder reactors is reported. Representative fuel (Pu239, U235, U233), fertile (U238, Th232), structural (stainless steel), and coolant (sodium) materials are used in the calculations, references providing information as to the substitutional effect of other materials. The calculational method is defined, input parameters are discussed, and results such as critical mass, critical volume, initial breeding ratios, and spectral indices for the reactors are tabulated.