Westinghouse eVinci Microreactor Achieves Significant Breakthrough in Zero-Power High-Temperature Criticality Test

Westinghouse Electric Company recently announced that its eVinci microreactor achieved a significant breakthrough in a zero-power high-temperature criticality test, successfully achieving criticality at a temperature of 663 degrees Celsius, marking an important milestone in the project's development. This test is an important practice of the “build-test-learn” development model, providing key data for accelerating subsequent prototype design.

The test was conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)'s National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) in Nevada, with active cooperation and support from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The selection of the test site has important scientific research value, providing assurance for the reliability and accuracy of the experimental data.

In addition to achieving criticality at high temperature, Westinghouse's research team further broke the temperature record by completing subcritical reactivity measurements at a peak core temperature of 1011 degrees Celsius, setting the highest temperature record for reactivity measurements in NCERC's history. This result means that the experimental team's operational capability and technical proficiency in high-temperature environments have reached a new level.

Through this test, researchers obtained high-quality, temperature-dependent key data that will further strengthen existing analytical models and provide more precise guidance for prototype design. The acquisition of such test results will help to gain a deeper understanding of reactor design characteristics when materials are heated under operating conditions.

Westinghouse President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Sumner, in evaluating the test results, emphasized the company's long-standing contributions in the field of nuclear energy innovation and the continuation of this pioneering spirit into the eVinci project. He stated that the team is actively advancing the construction, testing, and improvement of advanced nuclear technologies, transforming uncertainty into reliable experience through practice.

The eVinci microreactor employs advanced heat pipe cooling technology and a TRISO particle fuel core design, with a thermal power of 15 megawatts (15 MWt) and a maximum electrical output of 5 megawatts (5 MWe). More notably, the core design enables it to operate at full power for more than 8 years without refueling, significantly improving operational efficiency and economics.

The unique advantage of this reactor lies in its ability to be fully manufactured and assembled at the factory, then loaded into containers for transport, giving it extremely high flexibility and scalability to provide reliable and customizable energy supply for defense, space exploration, and various other application scenarios.