The Department of Energy has named the companies that will participate in the Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to accelerate the testing and deployment of advanced reactor technologies.
As part of the program, the DOE will work with the firms to construct and operate nuclear reactors and achieve criticality by July 2026.
Reactor Pilot Program Details
The Reactor Pilot Program was announced in June following President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14301, which called for a reform in how DOE conducts nuclear reactor testing and reestablishes the United States as a global leader in nuclear energy.
“President Trump’s Reactor Pilot Program is a call to action,” commented James P. Danly, deputy secretary of energy. “These companies aim to all safely achieve criticality by Independence Day and DOE will do everything we can to support their efforts.”
DOE selected 11 advanced reactor projects for the pilot. The companies will bear the costs associated with designing, manufacturing, constructing, operating and decommissioning the proposed reactors.
The selected firms are as follows:
- Aalo Atomics
- Antares Nuclear
- Atomic Alchemy
- Deep Fission
- Last Energy
- Oklo
- Natura Resources
- Radiant Industries
- Terrestrial Energy
- Valar Atomics
“We are pleased to have been selected by the DOE for this important project, which will help the U.S. win the race to energy dominance that is now so important for competitive commercial [artificial intelligence] and the re-shoring of U.S. manufacturing,” Simon Irish, CEO of Terrestrial Energy, commented about his company’s selection in the pilot.
