VTR

(Updated—May 19, 2022): The Department of Energy (DOE) is poised to decide whether it will build the 300-MWth Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a fast neutron national user facility that could provide the nuclear industry with a much-needed high-performance testing capability for advanced reactors and existing commercial reactors. The DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) on […]

As it readies for a leadership shuffle, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) has rolled out an ambitious “blueprint” that urges continued technology innovation for existing nuclear, advanced nuclear, nuclear waste, and fuel cycles by the incoming Biden administration.  At its core, the NE’s “Strategic Vision” released on Jan. 8 posits […]

The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a planned experimental fast neutron reactor that the Department of Energy (DOE) says is crucial to support domestic advanced nuclear reactor research and development has cleared “Critical Decision 1,” paving the way for the engineering design phase to begin. Critical Decision 1—also known as “Approve Alternative Selection and Cost Range”—is […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation startup TerraPower are ready to demonstrate a “cost-competitive” advanced nuclear reactor system that will integrate a 345-MWe sodium fast reactor (SFR) with a molten salt energy storage system under a unique energy system architecture. The advanced nuclear technology developed under a joint development agreement is […]

Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the entity that manages Idaho National Laboratory (INL), has initiated contract negotiations with a team lead by Bechtel National Inc. (BNI) and supported by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Terra Power to back the design and build phase of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Versatile Test Reactor (VTR).  The announcement […]

The U.S. will attempt to regain its international standing as a world leader in nuclear energy through a three-pronged strategy that will essentially seek to strengthen the full domestic nuclear fuel cycle, possibly deny imports of nuclear fuel fabricated in Russia or China, and promote advanced reactor technologies. The strategy is outlined in the White […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and TerraPower are jointly pursuing an opportunity to design and build the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), an experimental fast neutron nuclear reactor that could start up by 2026. The companies on Jan. 21 announced they collaborated on a response to an expression of interest (EOI) issued […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) officially launched development of its Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a fast reactor that will foster experiments with much higher neutron energy and flux compared to the nation’s existing 35 research reactors to develop advanced nuclear fuel for future nuclear power plants in the U.S. The facility, it says, is necessary […]

Battelle Energy Alliance—the management and operating contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) PRISM technology to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program. The VTR program is expected to accelerate the development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors, utilizing fast neutron spectrum technology. Rather […]