In the Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, 11 new reactor projects were chosen by the US Department of Energy, with criticality targeted in at least three test reactors by July 4, 2026. This project simplifies nuclear testing outside of national labs, as companies open access to private financing as part of Trump’s nuclear innovation agenda through the rapid commercialization of the technology.
Program rollouts with a high Independence Day target
The Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program by President Trump has officially been launched by the U.S Department of Energy, which states that 11 advanced reactor projects will initially collaborate with 11 advanced reactor efforts through DOE to advance their technologies into deployment. The program intends to create, use, and have a majority of at least three test reactors constructed, operated, and with DOE authorization procedure, with a view to doing so by July 4, 2026.
World Nuclear News reports on a pilot programme announced in June, which seeks to promptly test advanced reactor models authorized by the Department at other sites beyond national laboratories. The program is part of the “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Tests at the Department of Energy” executive order signed by President Trump in May, which is an expedited method of commercial licensing actions.
This is how diverse companies represent reactor innovation
The evaluated companies are Aalo Atomics Inc., Antares Nuclear Inc., Atomic Alchemy Inc., Deep Fission Inc., Last Energy Inc., Natura Resources LLC, Oklo Inc. (two projects), Radiant Industries Inc., Terrestrial Energy Inc., and Valar Atomics Inc. These companies are both ventures and advanced firms in which reactor technology methods vary.
All costs associated with the design, manufacturing, construction, operation, and decommissioning of their categories of test reactors will be payable by each company. Nevertheless, the application to obtain DOE authorization under the act of Atomic Energy Act will facilitate access to the sources of private funding and to rapid channels of commercial licensing.
Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly said that “President Trump recently called on the nation to take action in his Reactor Pilot Program. A goal of these companies is to reach the critical mass by Independence Day, and DOE will work to see what we can do to help them accomplish it. The diversity of applications shows remarkable innovation breadth in American reactor developers.
Such is the mystery of technology variety that traverses the designs of reactors
The projects include different technology reactors and output power. The developer of Aalo is developing the Aalo-1, which is a 10 MWe sodium-cooled framework fabricated in the factory and developed by Antares, the R1-cooled with the sodium heat pipe 500 kW. Deep Fissions Borehole Reactor-1 is a 15 MWe pressurized water reactor, which is approximately a mile deep through a 30-inch borehole implementation.
The tight links between the processes remove bureaucracy
Instead of capital grants, Aalo Atomic CEO Matt Loszak let projects have a concierge team in order to remove red tape. In the past, it was weeks or months before we would see any DOE signatures, but today it can happen in days.
The timeline would seem unrealistic to many nuclear industry professionals since most companies have five-year or longer criticality timelines. But, equipped with support from DOE and lean processes, ambitious timetables turn out to be attainable by companies that are prepared with suitable road maps and engineering capacity.
The Nuclear Receptor Pilot Program changes nuclear development, taking on bold timelines and football’s practice of lightening the process of nuclear regulation. Identifying 11 different reactor projects has placed America at the forefront of regaining nuclear leadership across the globe, as well as the solution to energy security. A positive result during the attainment of multiple reactor criticality by Independence Day 2026 would transform the development wits and raise new levels of nuclear development.