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DOE selects first companies for nuclear launch pad
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and the National Reactor Innovation Center have announced their first selections for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad: three companies developing microreactors and one developing fuel supply.
The four companies—Deployable Energy, General Matter, NuCube Energy, and Radiant Industries—were selected from the initial pool of Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program applicants, the two precursor programs to the launch pad.
Mihaela Paraipan, Azizbek Abduvaliev, Anahit Balabekyan, Oleg V. Belov, Feruzjon H. Ergashev, Vafa M. Javadova, Sergey V. Korneev, Latchesar K. Kostov, Jurabek H. Khushvaktov, Sergey A. Kulikov, Alexandr A. Solnyshkin, Vladimir V. Sorokin, Toan N. Tran, Sergey I. Tyutyunnikov
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 200 | Number 6 | June 2026 | Pages 1490-1502
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2522570
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analysis of possible experiments meant to check the results of previous theoretical work about the perspectives of an accelerator-driven subcritical reactor (ADSR) is performed. In previous works, it was shown that ADSRs can represent not only a solution for the problem of nuclear waste but also an efficient source of energy. With beam intensities above 1016 p/s, an energy gain G higher than 15 is achieved, and the use of light ion beams, especially 7Li with energy of 0.25 to 0.3 AGeV interacting in a Be converter instead of 1- to 1.5-GeV protons, ensures G > 20 and allows a significant reduction of the accelerator length. Based on the analysis, an extended lead target was designed and is under construction in the frame of the ADSR project at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna. The target is dedicated to comparative study of the energy efficiency of proton and ion beams on one side and of the influence of the shape of the neutron spectrum on the breeding capability of ADSR on the other side. The target consists of a lead block with dimensions of 80 × 80 × 150 cm, surrounded by a stainless steel blanket 10 cm thick as a substitute for lead-bismuth coolant. The target has a central hole with a radius of 10 cm and length of 120 cm. Converters from various materials, with a total length of 110 cm, are placed in the central hole, ensuring a beam window with a length of 10 cm and holes with a length of 150 cm in the horizontal and vertical directions, at different radii for the placement of the detectors. The fission distribution obtained with uranium foils is analyzed. The breeding capability is estimated with the ratio of the neutron capture rate in 238U to the fission rate in 239Pu. Expected results predicted by simulation for different beams and converter materials are presented.