Office of Nuclear Energy DOE Awards $5 Million for Second Phase of Advanced Reactor Experiment Designs
Two companies are one step closer to testing reactor experiments in world’s first microreactor test bed
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a total of $5 million to Radiant Industries, Inc. and Westinghouse to progress their microreactor designs for testing in the new Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed at Idaho National Laboratory.
The funds will support the detailed engineering and experiment planning (DEEP) process, which is the next phase of a larger multi-phase approach to support nuclear developers in planning for the design, fabrication, construction, and testing of fueled reactor experiments.
“As the first microreactor test bed in the world, DOME is a tremendous resource for companies seeking to deploy first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear technologies,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr. Michael Goff. “We’re excited to see Radiant and Westinghouse move forward in the design process and look forward to seeing their work progress.”
Radiant and Westinghouse will each complete a Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) as part of the DEEP process. Completion of the PDSA is required prior to the fabrication and testing of reactors in DOME. Before receiving DEEP awards, Radiant and Westinghouse successfully completed the front-end engineering and experiment design (FEEED) process.
Microreactors are compact nuclear reactors typically capable of producing up to 50 megawatts of electric energy. They are exceptionally versatile due to their small size and could be deployed to power independent microgrids, restore power in emergency situations, or supply power to remote communities that currently rely on diesel generators.
DOME is a new test bed intended to accelerate microreactor development. DOE’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) is operating the test bed. NRIC developed the FEEED and DEEP processes as part of a phased approach to help developers more quickly achieve critical milestones in the development and deployment of advanced reactors. DOME is currently midway through construction and the first fueled reactor experiment could begin in 2026.
