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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.
C. J. Martin, L. A. El-Guebaly
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 4 | November 2007 | Pages 985-989
Technical Paper | Tritium, Safety, and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1622
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) and Loss of Flow Accident (LOFA) thermal simulations have been performed for the ARIES compact stellarator fusion power plant. The ARIES-CS design uses three separate coolant loops: lithium-lead (LiPb) in the blanket, helium in the blanket and the shield, and water in the vacuum vessel. The thermal response to LOCA/LOFA conditions was simulated using transient axisymmetric finite element models. In these analyses, the plasma was quenched three seconds after coolant loss, and the temperature of the chamber components subsequently increased due to the generated decay heat. Thermal simulations determined the maximum temperatures reached in the various components were below the 740°C temperature limit for the reusability of the ferritic steel structure.