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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.
John A. Blume, Sigmund A. Freeman, Kenneth K. Honda, Lloyd A. Lee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 27 | Number 4 | December 1975 | Pages 623-630
Technical Paper | Nuclear Explosive | doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A24336
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Supplemental structural bracing was designed and installed for the 180-ft-tall Colony Tower, an experimental oil shale processing retort structure, in anticipation of its lateral response to the Rio Blanco detonation. The tower is a steel structure with both horizontal and vertical diagonal bracing. Data obtained from the earlier Project Rulison detonation indicated that an evaluation study was necessary. Design criteria that would provide an adequate margin of safety were developed based on predicted Rio Blanco ground motion. The evaluation of the unmodified structure showed that several bracing members would be subjected to forces exceeding their yield strength, and some would reach a level at which failure could occur. Further analyses were made with assumed modified bracing members. A final scheme for modified vertical bracing was established and installed. After modification, the response of the tower during the Rio Blanco detonation was measured by instruments on the ground and at various locations on the tower, and no evidence of damage was discovered. The modification of the Colony Tower and the procedures used to determine these modifications show the usefulness of current ground motion and structural response prediction technology for forecasting dynamic behavior of important structures subjected to ground motion from underground nuclear explosions.