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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.
G. L. Varsamis, G. P. Lawrence, T. S. Bhatia, B. Blind, F. W. Guy, R. A. Krakowski, G. H. Neuschaefer, N. M. Schnurr, S. O. Schriber, T. P. Wangler, M. T. Wilson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 106 | Number 2 | October 1990 | Pages 160-182
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE90-A27468
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Advances in high-current linear accelerator technology since the design of the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test facility have increased the attractiveness of a deuterium-lithium neutron source for fusion materials and technology testing. The conceptual design of such a source, which is aimed at meeting the near-term requirements of the high-flux high-energy International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility, is discussed. The concept employs multiple accelerator modules providing deu-teron beams to two liquid-lithium jet targets oriented at right angles. This beam/target geometry provides much larger test volumes than can be attained with a single beam and target and produces significant regions of low neutron flux gradient. A preliminary beam dynamics design has been obtained for a 250-mA reference accelerator module. Neutron flux levels and irradiation volumes were calculated for a neutron source incorporating two such modules, and interaction of the beam with the lithium jet was studied using a thermal-hydraulic computer simulation. Approximate cost estimates are provided for a range of beam currents, and a possible facility staging sequence is suggested.