The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has received a priority rating by the Department of Commerce to speed up the construction of the lab’s first two microreactor test beds.
The National Reactor Innovation Center, led by INL, will operate the two microreactor test beds of the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) and Laboratory for Operation and Testing in the United States (LOTUS).
The DOME test bed will be constructed around the containment system of the decommissioned Experimental Breeder Reactor-II and the LOTUS test bed will be stored in the lab’s Zero Power Physics Reactor facility, according to the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Wednesday press release.
Microreactors are small nuclear reactors that can produce up to 50 megawatts and have the ability to be transported and used at commercial operations, military bases and remote locations, according to the press release.
INL submitted a special request earlier this month to receive the priority rating; the DOE determined the request met the criteria for the Defense Production Act, according to the press release. The Department of Commerce later approved it.
DOME is on track to receive its first experiment as early as 2026, DOE’s Office of Nuclear said.
The new rating expands upon the DOE’s efforts to streamline construction projects across national laboratories to advance nuclear technologies. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced those actions in March.
