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U.S. Department of Energy Approves Antares Mark-1 Microreactor Nuclear Safety Design Agreement

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) formally approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (NSDA) for the Mark-1 microreactor of nuclear energy startup Antares Nuclear (Antares), establishing official safety standards, design requirements, and regulatory framework for the reactor's subsequent construction and testing phases. It is reported that the Mark-1 is designed to achieve continuous power output, with its design integrating a full-scale core and TRISO fuel, and equipped with a nitrogen closed-cycle Brayton power conversion system. Prior to this, its predecessor Mark-0 achieved zero-power criticality in June 2026, successfully validating the core physics characteristics. With the approval of the NSDA, Antares is expected to...

2026-11-06

U.S. Microreactor Project Submits All Eighteen Chapters of Safety Analysis Materials

Recently, all 18 chapters of the preliminary safety analysis report for the SOLO micro modular reactor have been submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), entering the readiness review prior to formal application. Project developer Terra Innovatum had previously provided 14 of the chapters, and this submission of the remaining materials further completes the safety analysis documentation, advancing one step toward the subsequent formal submission of a construction permit application. The readiness review focuses on assessing the completeness and quality of the application materials, helping to identify content that needs to be supplemented or improved before formal submission. Throughout this process, the project team will continue technical exchanges with regulatory staff, addressing review comments and information requests, so that the react...

2026-11-05

US Regulator Completes Safety Review of X-energy's Microreactor

Recently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) formally completed its final Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for the first deployment in Texas of X-energy's Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). It is reported that the project is planned for construction at the Longtom nuclear power plant site in Texas, located at the Seadrift operations center owned by chemical giant Dow. X-energy, which is backed by investment from technology and retail giant Amazon, stated that once completed, the plant will become the first grid-scale advanced modular nuclear reactor deployed within a large industrial facility in U.S. history. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in its final safety...

2026-11-03

Norway Funds Research and Development of Microreactors for Marine Nuclear Propulsion

Recently, the Research Council of Norway announced an early-stage grant of US$2 million to the Marine Nuclear Power Systems (MarNuPS) project to support the integration and testing of maritime nuclear propulsion technology. It is reported that the project is led by the Norwegian subsidiary of Emerald Nuclear, a U.S. microreactor startup, with a total first-phase research budget of approximately US$15 million. Emerald's GEM microreactor concept uses tristructural isotropic (TRISO) high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, has a refueling cycle of 5 to 15 years, and plans to adopt a "reactor leasing" rather than direct sales...

2026-10-28

Nano Nuclear Signs Engineering Agreement with Argentina's IMPSA to Advance Manufacturability Assessment of Key Components for Kronos Microreactor

U.S. advanced reactor developer Nano Nuclear Energy announced on October 23 that it has signed a three-year engineering technical services agreement with the U.S. subsidiary of Argentine metal-mechanical manufacturing giant IMPSA. The two parties will jointly conduct engineering design and manufacturing feasibility assessments for core components of Nano Nuclear's independently developed Kronos microreactor, aiming to accelerate the microreactor's transition from physical concept drawings to the industrial manufacturing stage. According to the work plan disclosed in the official statement, the initial priority is an approximately six-month design review and manufacturing feasibility study, in which the Reactor P...

2026-10-24

Sichuan Establishes Nuclear Industry Platform, Advanced Microreactor Enters Engineering Phase

Recently, the Microreactor Industry Co-construction Conference and the unveiling ceremony of Sichuan Energy Nuclear Industry Co., Ltd. were held in Chengdu, marking that China's independently developed advanced microreactor technology has officially moved from the laboratory R&D stage into a critical period of engineering demonstration and industrialization. As an important vehicle for the central-local coordinated deployment of advanced nuclear energy, the platform will connect technology, capital, and application scenarios, and shore up shortcomings in the development of distributed nuclear energy. It is reported that Sichuan Energy Nuclear Industry Co., Ltd. was jointly initiated and established by Sichuan Energy Development Group and the Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC), while simultaneously introducing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Venture Capital Guidance Fund, Chengdu Future Industry Venture Capital Fund, and other multi-level capital empowerment, with initial registered capital of 1 billion yuan.

2026-10-22

Sichuan Energy Nuclear Industry Company Unveiled in Chengdu, Accelerating Layout in the Microreactor New Track

On October 20, 2026, the Microreactor Industry Co-construction Conference and the Unveiling Ceremony of Sichuan Energy Nuclear Industry Co., Ltd. were held in Chengdu. The nuclear industry company was jointly established by Sichuan Energy Development Group and China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute, with initial registered capital of 1 billion yuan. Positioned as a tier-2 platform of the group, it focuses on three major segments—advanced microreactors, green energy technologies, and nuclear technology applications—to build a comprehensive nuclear energy industry platform. It is understood that the newly established company adopts a central-local collaborative model of "technology sourcing + industrial undertaking." The Nuclear Power Institute, as one of the few organizations globally that possesses uranium-zirconium hydride fuel design and manufacturing technology, has achieved comprehensive breakthroughs in key technologies for lead-bismuth reactors after more than a decade of research; Sichuan Energy Development...

2026-10-21

US NuCube Advances NuSun Microreactor Testing and Autonomous Operation Layout

Recently, US nuclear energy startup NuCube Energy launched high-temperature hardware testing of the NuSun microreactor at the Utah Energy Laboratory in the United States, marking new progress in the commercial deployment of its solid-state fission microreactor. NuCube, in collaboration with Brigham Young University (BYU), is using a dedicated induction furnace to simulate ultra-high-temperature thermal environments, focusing on verifying core thermal environments up to 1,100°C, energy conversion performance, and integrated industrial heat supply applications. It is understood that NuSun adopts tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel and supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle technology, capable of covering more than 90% of the industrial process heat market, and plans to launch...

2026-10-20

Idaho State University to Build Microreactor, Empowering Nuclear Energy Talent Development

Recently, Idaho State University (ISU) announced that it will collaborate with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and local nuclear technology company NuCube to jointly build a new microreactor to fully support the state's only undergraduate nuclear engineering program. It is understood that the project will carry out a major expansion and upgrade of the existing teaching and research reactor that has been in continuous operation since 1965, providing a cutting-edge technology operating platform for the next generation of nuclear engineers. This collaboration relies on the relevant advancement programs of the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC), aiming to provide key resources and regulatory guidance for the research, development, and...

2026-10-16

U.S. Department of Energy Approves Last Energy Microreactor Safety Analysis Report: Texas A&M University PWR-5 Demonstration Reactor Enters Final Pre-Operational Review

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has formally approved the Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) submitted by nuclear startup Last Energy for its proposed test microreactor at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus (Texas A&M-RELLIS). This approval marks the official transition of the microreactor demonstration project into the Operational Readiness Review phase, which is also the final key regulatory step before obtaining authorization for initial criticality and formally commencing operation. The Documented Safety Analysis is the most central and detailed final safety assessment document in the U.S. Department of Energy's approval framework, following the Preliminary Safety Analysis Document approved in May 2026...

2026-10-12

US MARVEL Microreactor Approved for Criticality Testing, Testing Expected to Begin by End of 2026

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office has formally approved the final safety analysis report for the MARVEL microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This key regulatory approval authorizes the reactor to proceed with configuration preparations for dry criticality testing, marking a breakthrough for the project following the approval of the preliminary safety analysis report in March of this year. The MARVEL (Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation) project is a sodium-potassium alloy-cooled microreactor test platform with a design thermal power of 85 to 100 kilowatts and a net electrical power of approximately 20 kilowatts. The facility is designed to help private companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and GE Vernova test micro...

2026-10-10

US-based NuCube Launches High-Temperature Testing of 250 kW Pump-Free Microreactor in Utah

Advanced nuclear developer NuCube Energy is conducting a new round of non-nuclear testing in Utah, USA, on its factory-assembled microreactor technology. The company is collaborating with researchers from Brigham Young University to advance the project at the San Rafael Energy Research Laboratory. The partners are using electric heating technology to precisely simulate the operating conditions inside their planned NuSun micro fission system. The core focus of this round of testing is to verify whether small modular nuclear energy can provide clean, decarbonized energy support for high-energy-consumption manufacturing operations. Conventional commercial nuclear power plants typically rely on mechanical pumps and large pools to manage core temperature. Once mechanical components fail or...

2026-10-10

Deployable Energy 1MW Microreactor UNB Achieves Initial Criticality: Scheduled to Enter INL DOME Test Bed in 2027 for Full-Power Testing

Houston-based nuclear energy startup Deployable Energy recently announced that its independently developed Microreactor, the Unity Nuclear Battery (UNB), has successfully completed its Initial Criticality Test. According to the established deployment plan, the system will officially arrive at the Demonstration and Operation of Microreactor Experiments (DOME), the dedicated microreactor test bed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in 2027 to conduct full-power comprehensive performance testing. Although branded as a Nuclear...

2026-10-02

Two UK nuclear companies sign memorandum of understanding to jointly develop nuclear microreactor

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) and Cambridge Atomworks have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which the two companies will engage in deep collaboration on a UK-built nuclear microreactor. Cambridge Atomworks is an ambitious and vibrant nuclear engineering startup whose core goal is to build a nuclear microreactor in the UK for off-grid applications. The signing of this memorandum of understanding marks that the two companies will jointly explore how to maximize CVE's deep expertise in electron beam welding, including the company's Ebflow technology, which has been proven to significantly accelerate the production process of key nuclear power components such as reactor vessels...

2026-09-18

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 sign...

2026-09-16