Executives with advanced reactor companies sounded upbeat during a Tuesday webinar on their projects chances of reaching criticality by Independence Day under the Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program.
Officials from Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear and Radiant Nuclear all expressed optimism during an American Nuclear Society panel discussion webinar titled “Path to Criticality.” DOE’s reactor pilot program envisions having at least three demonstration reactors reach criticality by July 4.
Radiant’s Kaleidos demonstration reactor will reach full power this summer after reaching criticality, Chief Nuclear Officer Rita Baranwal said. When at full power, Radiant will allow its reactor to run at that level for 150 hours straight to gauge the technology’s viability.
Achieving criticality is important but achieving full power is the milestone the company is aiming for, said Baranwal, who formerly led the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
Yasir Arafat, chief technology officer at Aalo, voiced similar post-criticality plans.
“When you think about a new nuclear reactor program or technology you want to deploy, the most important thing that we can demonstrate to our customers, regulators and ourselves is: how does it [the reactor] perform in the field,” Arafat said.
Arafat said Aalo is working on reaching criticality by the July date but will finish building the full-scale power reactor, which will be 10 megawatts, by the end of the year. The facility will start actual operation in the first quarter of 2027.
Aalo held a ceremony for its completed Aalo-X test reactor building on March 19. Arafat also said that GE Vernova, which fabricates Aalo’s nuclear fuel, is expected to ship the company’s fuel to INL for the reactor on Tuesday.
Antares Nuclear’s CEO Jordan Bramble said when Trump announced the reactor pilot program, he felt Antares was in a position to achieve the July deadline. Bramble said the company already had a facility at Idaho National Laboratory, a pathway to fueling the reactor and had a partnership with DOE.
Antares participation in the program and especially reaching criticality is a stepping stone that can lead to commercialization Bramble said
Antares’ expects to use its reactors for military and space purposes, Bramble said. The winners of microreactors in the space industry will be decided in the next two to three years. The company hopes to become a partner with the Pentagon, he said.
Aalo, Antares and Radiant are three companies that DOE has approved their preliminary documented safety analyses. These companies also have their demonstration reactors stationed at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory.