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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.
Hans Conrads
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 106 | Number 3 | November 1990 | Pages 299-307
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE90-A29058
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The properties of dense plasma focus, a point source of fusion neutrons with high flux density, are described and its applications to problems in fusion technology are discussed, including assessment of the performance of electronics and diagnostics in the stream of neutrons behind a breeding blanket, measurement of the concentration of neutron-induced isomeres in the first wall and blanket, and determining radiation-induced damage under pulsed and steady neutron loads. The plasma focus phenomenon is described and the technical details of a device for high repetition rates are given, including the characteristics of the electrical circuits. Scaling the yield for 10- and 13-MeV neutrons in tritium-free discharges is also addressed.