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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.
Michael J. Gaeta, Frederick R. Best
Nuclear Technology | Volume 103 | Number 1 | July 1993 | Pages 19-33
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34827
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Space nuclear power systems utilize materials and processes that are completely different from terrestrial reactor systems. Therefore, the tools used to analyze ground-based systems are inappropriate for space reactor design and analysis. The purpose of this study was to develop a space reactor transient analysis tool and to apply this tool to scenarios of interest. The scope of the simulation includes the thermal and neutronic behavior of a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor, the electrical and thermal performance of the thermoelectric generators, the thermal dynamics of heat pipe radiators, and the thermal behavior of the coolant piping between major components. The thermal model of the system is explicitly coupled to a momentum model of the primary and secondary coolant loops. A one-dimensional conduction model is employed in all solid component models. The reactor model includes an expression for energy generation due to fission and decay heat. The thermoelectric heat exchanger model accounts for thermal energy conversion to useful electrical output. The two-node radiator heat pipe model includes normal operation as well as limited heat pipe operation under sonic limit conditions. The reactor, thermoelectric heat exchanger, and heat pipe models are coupled explicitly by the coolant piping thermal model. The computer program is used to simulate a variety of transients including reactor power change, degradation of the radiator, and a temporary open circuit condition on the thermoelectrics.