US Nuclear Pilot Program Notches Second Reactor Breakthrough
(Bloomberg) -- Valar Atomics Inc., a Southern California-based startup, has reached a key milestone in its effort to develop small reactors under a US program aimed at accelerating the deployment of nuclear power.
The company’s reactor — the Ward 250 — reached “criticality” on June 18, Valar said in a statement Thursday. That means it achieved a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, allowing it to produce a steady release of energy.
Valar is the second company to reach the milestone this month, following Antares Nuclear Inc. Both are participating in the Energy Department’s reactor pilot program, which was announced last year and set a goal of seeing three reactors achieve criticality by July 4.
“Nine months ago, this was an empty site. Today, there’s a critical reactor on it, built and operated by the Valar team,” Isaiah Taylor, chief executive officer of Valar, said in the statement. ”We met the milestone the executive order set.
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