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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
David Hayes, Todd Bredeweg, Theresa Cutler, Joetta Goda, Travis Grove, Jesson Hutchinson, Juliann Lamproe, George McKenzie, Alexander McSpaden, William Myers, Rene Sanchez, Jessie Walker
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 195 | Number 1 | November 2021 | Pages S37-S54
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.1947104
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Flattop critical assembly was built and operated from 1958 through 2004 at the Pajarito Site (Technical Area-18), home to the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. Flattop was disassembled in 2005 and refurbished over the course of 3 years. In 2008, Flattop was installed in the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) located in the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site. Startup of Flattop with a uranium core occurred in 2011. This paper details the first 10 years of Flattop operations at NCERC (2011–present).