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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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DOE fast tracks test reactor projects: What to know
The Department of Energy today unveiled 10 companies racing to bring test reactors online by next year to meet Trump's deadline of next Independance Day, leveraging a new DOE pathway that allows reactor authorization outside national labs. As first outlined in one of the four executive orders on nuclear energy released by President Trump on May 23 and in the request for applications for the Reactor Pilot Program released June 18, the companies must use their own money and sites—and DOE authorization—to get reactors operating. What they won’t need is a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.
L. D. Noble, P. Greebler, G. R. Pflasterer, Jr., B. U. B. Sarma, D. Wintzer
Nuclear Technology | Volume 10 | Number 1 | January 1971 | Pages 5-10
Technical Paper and Note | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT71-A30941
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The minimum critical core size for the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor was predicted prior to the initial fuel loading using the results of a critical mockup in ZPR-3. The predicted minimum critical loading was 519 PuO2-UO2 fuel rods containing 285 kg of fissile (239Pu + 241Pu) plutonium, with 1 beryllium oxide tightener rod for each 6 fuel rods. The actual minimum critical loading was equivalent to a core containing 518 standard fuel rods and the nominal 6-to-1 ratio of fuel-to-tightener rods. The calculations used in the prediction are described and the agreement between experiment and calculation is discussed.
