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The deadline arrives: Checking in on the Reactor Pilot Program
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE,” which instructed the Department of Energy to create a Reactor Pilot Program (RPP)—a new system in which companies could pursue DOE authorization to build and test their first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies. EO 14301 set an ambitious goal for that program: three reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026.
Anna Hall, Jeffrey C. Joe
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 12 | December 2024 | Pages 2290-2298
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2380228
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Within the current U.S. nuclear power fleet, main control room modernization (CRM) is an important step toward cost savings. In recent decades, plants have been engaged in upgrades to varying degrees. This process requires a nuanced, balanced, and timely approach that ensures continued safety and long-term sustainability. In 2012, a survey was issued to individuals from the nuclear industry to learn their perspectives on a range of CRM issues. The survey targeted the benefits and challenges for utilities undertaking this process, including the main drivers and barriers to technology upgrades, regulatory compliance, and the effects these factors have on concepts of operations, strategic approaches, and staffing. In 2022, the survey was issued again to understand whether CRM perceptions had changed in the last 10 years. Our findings identify changes in industry thinking from a decade ago. We reveal perspective shifts that represent increased optimism, and in some instances, increased doubt regarding the opportunities and challenges inherent in CRM and implementation. We also report nuanced differences in CRM perspectives between utility and surrounding nonutility nuclear industry respondents.