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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.
Mark L. Williams
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 155 | Number 1 | January 2007 | Pages 18-36
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE06-11
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Equations for sensitivity coefficients of eigenvalue-difference responses such as reactivity are derived from a unified approach based on both eigenvalue and generalized perturbation theory. The sensitivity coefficients are utilized for uncertainty analysis of reactivity responses, and it is shown that these types of responses have inherently larger relative uncertainties than eigenvalue responses. Monte Carlo calculations are used to apply the methodology to the analysis of the coolant void reactivity in a three-dimensional model of a fuel bundle in an advanced CANDU reactor system. The important data sensitivities are identified, and it is shown that the coolant void reactivity has a large uncertainty due to nuclear data uncertainties.