The Department of Energy has approved Antares Nuclear’s Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for its demonstration reactor under DOE’s reactor pilot program.
Under the program, DOE has set out a goal of at least three reactors reaching criticality by July 4. Antares, founded in 2023, was one of the 10 companies selected for the program.
The approval of the safety analysis creates a clear pathway for Torrance, Calif.-based microreactor developer to win DOE authorization, the company said in a Monday press release.
The company said it is scheduled to achieve criticality before July 4 this year.
Antares will develop and test the Mark-0 demonstration reactor at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory in Building 793 of the Materials and Fuels Complex, the company said. Additionally, the same facility and fuel used in Mark-0 will support the company’s electricity-producing demonstration in 2027, Antares added.
“The DOE approval of our PDSA [Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis] is an important step on our way to criticality and ultimately producing power for defense and space applications,” Antares CEO Jordan Bramble said. “Safety is at the core of everything we do, and we thank the DOE for their continued partnership.”
The R1, the commercial design, is a sodium-cooled microreactor that is designed to produce between 100 kilowatts and one megawatt of electricity for both government and defense purposes. The reactor will be designed to use tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel.