3 Nuclear Startups Hit a Big Milestone. Why It Matters—and Why It Doesn’t
Three startups are providing the fireworks for the Department of Energy's Fourth of July celebrations by meeting a major nuclear milestone. They've turned on new reactors as part of a pilot program aimed at kick-starting what Energy Secretary Chris Wright calls “America’s nuclear renaissance” to develop and deploy the next generation of atomic energy.
Other companies in the pilot program have signaled that they may reach criticality—a term used to describe a nuclear reactor sustaining a chain reaction, a key step in providing power—shortly after July 4, following a deadline set by President Donald Trump in an executive order last year. But experts say that while the pilot is good PR for the industry, there’s still a long way to go before new reactor designs become commercial realities.
“These prototypes mean everything and nothing,” says Adam Stein, the director of the Nuclear Energy Innovation program at the Breakthrough Institute....
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