Antares Achieves Criticality of Mark-0 Reactor
3 hours ago
- #Microreactor
- #DOE Collaboration
- #Nuclear Energy
- Antares Mark-0 microreactor achieved initial criticality at Idaho National Laboratory, making it the first private company to do so under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program.
- The demonstration was conducted with DOE, INL, BWX Technologies, and U.S. Army support, validating key physics parameters and contributing data to Project Pele for military microreactors.
- The milestone establishes a replicable licensing pathway to accelerate future reactor demonstrations, aiming for electricity production by 2027 and deployment to U.S. military installations by 2028.
- The reactor used TRISO fuel fabricated by BWXT, leveraging expertise from Project Pele, and the achievement is hailed as a historic moment for American nuclear energy innovation.
- Antares progressed from concept to criticality in less than 12 months, benefiting from decades of DOE investment and emphasizing efficient, iterative testing to advance the nuclear industry.