The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted the NANO Nuclear’s KRONOS microreactor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Illinois for review on Tuesday.
The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, NANO’s partner for the reactor deployment, submitted the application on March 31. The university’s engineering department is NANO’s partner for the deployment of the research reactor.
NRC said in its press release that its technical staff has begun its safety and environmental review of the project. In the coming days, NRC will publish a Federal Register notice to open a 30-day window for the public to request a formal legal hearing on the application.
According to NANO’s Wednesday press release, the company expects NRC to complete its formal review of the application in 2027. This estimation would allow NANO to begin its nuclear construction activities at the university in the second half of 2027, the company said.
“Acceptance of the Construction Permit Application for formal NRC review represents another important milestone for the KRONOS MMR™ program and further demonstrates the progress required to advance next-generation reactor technologies toward deployment,” Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy Jay Yu said.
NANO is developing the high-temperature gas-cooled KRONOS modular microreactor, designed to be portable and produce up to 15 megawatts of electricity and 45 megawatts of thermal energy.