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August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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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.
W. Joe Gist, Stanley R. Bull, C. Leon Partain
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 57 | Number 2 | June 1975 | Pages 97-116
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE75-A27338
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The kinetics of a flux-trap cylindrical reactor system were studied both theoretically and experimentally. A state-variable approach was used to develop a twenty-fourth-order model describing neutron and temperature kinetics in 14 regional system components. The modified Mikhailov method was used to determine the stability of the model. The reactor system was studied using step testing and pseudorandom multifrequency binary sequence testing procedures with a small-computer based instrumentation system. Measurements were made at powers of 1, 2.5, and 4 MW. The frequency response analysis of the system model compared favorably with experimental observations.