The Department of Energy set out the basics of its test reactor pilot program at its 2025 Industry Day on Wednesday.
On June 18 DOE announced a test pilot program to expedite testing advanced nuclear reactors under DOE authority, with the objective to have “at least three reactors” reach criticality by July 4, 2026.
DOE Office of the General Counsel senior legal advisor Seth Cohen said the July 4, 2026 deadline was vital because it is a matter of national security.
According to the DOE Request for Applications, the test reactors will serve research, development and demonstration purposes and will not provide commercial power. The DOE defined a “qualified test reactor” as a reactor that:
- Has a mature reactor design
- Has an established nuclear fuel plans, with an identified fuel fabrication and a disposition pathway
- Has an adequate financial resources and sufficient supply chain
- Has execution readiness
“Everyone in this room and everyone that is going to apply has the eyes of history and the American people on them,” Cohen said on the panel.
The pilot program’s framework is established in a Request for Applications with July 21 as the initial application deadline date for first-round consideration. DOE intends to announce initial selections for the program Aug. 25.
DOE will have the ability to control the test reactors through Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) and will not require a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license throughout the pilot program, as reflected in the executive order Reforming Nuclear Reactors Testing at the Department of Energy.
An OTA is a legal agreement with the federal government. The contract offers flexible business arrangements to acquire research and development activities to advance technologies.
The DOE-approved reactor designs can be fast tracked for future NRC licensing, DOE said.
The NRC will leverage Department of Defense and DOE’s authorization processes to help create NRC processes more efficiently, NRC’s Nuclear Reactor Regulation deputy office director for new reactors Greg Bowman said at the Industry Day event.
Though a date is in place for application deadlines and initial selections, the DOE panel said it will be a rolling application process, but encouraged applications to be filed sooner than later.
During the Industry Day event, DOE Office of Nuclear Office deputy assistant secretary Michael Goff said while DOE will team up with the nuclear companies, the bulk of the responsibility will be on the companies.
Companies will be responsible for identifying their testing site, nuclear fuel needed, reactor design, and supply chain, Goff said. The companies will also be responsible for funding their own projects.
However, Goff said DOE will be a partner to the companies to help them through the process. DOE can make parcels of land outside of its national laboratory fences for test reactors, but the companies will still be responsible for that land. The property can include federal, private, state or other places, subject to DOE control.