Four US nuclear startups have brought experimental reactors to criticality, hitting a critical milestone

Good news! Bravo President Trump!

"Four nuclear startups participating in Department of Energy reactor-testing programs have brought experimental reactors to criticality, meaning they can sustain controlled nuclear chain reactions.

The department had aimed to reach that milestone with at least three designs by July 4; the companies delivered four. Analysts at the Breakthrough Institute argue that the programs are restoring a crucial stage in the nuclear innovation cycle by allowing companies to build, test, and improve reactor designs before attempting to build costly commercial-scale plants."

"“Last year the Trump administration set a goal to see three new microreactors achieve criticality, a technical milestone establishing that a reactor can sustain a chain reaction, by the nation’s 250th birthday. And just in time, four reactors did so. ..."

"... The Reactor Pilot Program essentially opened a special door for prototype reactors to fast-track development. In August [2025], the US Department of Energy selected 11 reactor projects for the program and offered them land and support from the national labs system. These are all microreactors; the large light-water reactors that dominate the grid today are tens or even hundreds of times their size. ..."

"... Antares Nuclear’s Mark-0 reached zero-power criticality at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on June 4th.

Valar Atomics’ Ward 250 followed later that month in Utah, becoming the first DOE-authorized reactor built and operated outside the national laboratory system.

And Deployable Energy, in DOE’s Nuclear Energy Launch Pad program, reached criticality at INL yesterday, making it the third reactor to meet the July 4 target.

Aalo anticipates reaching criticality this week. ..."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

Four Nuclear Reactors Hit a Big Milestone in the US

Four nuclear reactors hit a big milestone in the US "Achieving criticality is just the first step toward power for the grid."

From Paper to Real-Life Reactors: The Holistic View of the Reactor Pilot Program

Source

US Department of Energy plans to spend $124 million on nuclear fusion matching its total spending from previous 12 years via ARPA-E

What ARPA-E has spent so little money on nuclear fusion over the past 12 years! Incredible! No wonder nuclear fusion is still not harnessed as a source of energy generation!

How much did the US DoE spend on solar and wind power (so called renewables) over the same time period? I bet much more! What a joke!

"In keeping with President Donald Trump’s priority of developing fusion energy, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) tech development wing will significantly boost its investment in fusion research. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will provide $135 million in funding for cutting-edge fusion research over the next 18 months, the agency announced on 8 April. That equals the amount ARPA-E spent on fusion over the past 12 years.

Those earlier investments helped launch several startup companies that are developing novel fusion reactor concepts, notes Conner Prochaska, director of ARPA-E. And they have triggered $1.5 billion in private investment, he says. “We want to double down on that,” Prochaska says. ..."

Department of Energy’s tech incubator doubles down on fusion power | Science | AAAS "ARPA-E’s $135 million in new funds will match its total spending from previous 12 years"

US government launches the Genesis Mission

Good news! This is huge! Pardon me I am late with this blog!

What compares to landing the first human on the Moon in 1969 (Apollo Mission) when it comes to machine learning & AI?

"President Trump launched a United States effort to use AI to speed up scientific breakthroughs.

What’s new: The Genesis Mission, established by an executive order, directs the Department of Energy to integrate its 17 national labs and some of the country’s most powerful supercomputers to tackle research on areas that range from energy to medicine. Government researchers will work with private-sector partners, including Anthropic, Nvidia, and OpenAI, to train models on proprietary federal datasets and use AI to generate and run experiments.

How it works: The Energy Department will create an AI platform that provides access to government data and enables federal agencies, research labs, and companies to collaborate in building scientific foundation models and AI agents. It will also organize prize competitions, fellowships, partnerships, and funding opportunities that bring these communities together, coordinating diverse government, academic, and private resources that typically remain separate during peacetime. The project is the “largest marshaling of federal scientific resources since the Apollo program,” ...

Automation: The goal is to train AI models to conceive and conduct scientific research using robotic labs that allow for varying degrees of human involvement.

Focus: The mission identifies six areas of research focus: biotechnology, manufacturing, materials, nuclear fission, quantum information science, and semiconductors.

Goals: The project aims to

(i) boost the pace of scientific discovery, 

(ii) protect national security,

(iii) find paths to lower-cost energy, and

(iv) increase the return on government investment for taxpayers.

Funding: No new funding has been allocated so far, as is standard with U.S. executive orders. Agencies will start with existing resources, and Congress may approve additional spending.

Nvidia will build 7 new supercomputers for the government labs, CEO Jensen Huang said, and AMD, Dell, and Nvidia have agreed to build new facilities within the government labs ..."

Claude Opus 4.5 Saves Tokens, White House Boosts AI-Powered Science, Amazon Exposes Nova 2 Pro Checkpoints, Small Models Solve Hard Puzzels

Energy Department Disbursed $42B in Its Final Hours on green energy projects (some new Solyndras?) Under the 46th President

Certainly, the senile, demented and corrupt/compromised and mostly angry 46th President goes down in history as one of the worst US presidents at least since 1945!

How good was the vetting process before the taxpayers' money was disbursed?

"In its last two working days, the [46th President] administration’s Energy Department signed off on nearly $42 billion for green energy projects—a sum that exceeded the total amount its Loan Programs Office had put out in the past decade. 

The frenzied activity on Jan. 16 and 17, 2025, capped a spending binge that saw the Loan Programs Office approve at least $93 billion in current and future disbursements after Vice President [Mistress Kamal] lost the 2024 election in November ... 

The agreements were made despite a warning from the department’s inspector general, urging the loan office to suspend operations in December over concerns that postelection loans could present conflicts of interest.

In just a few months, some of the deals have already become dicey, leading to fears that the Biden administration has created multiple Solyndras, the green energy company that went bankrupt after the Obama administration gave it $570 million. ..."

Energy Department Disbursed $42B in Its Final Hours Under Biden

‘Unjustified Burdens’: Senate Passes Resolution to Repeal 46th President Era Appliance Rule

This is not enough! 

E.g. consumer dishwashing machines are way too slow and that government regulation long predates the 46th President!

More deregulation of household appliances please!

"... The Senate passed a joint resolution to repeal a Department of Energy appliance standard on Wednesday by a margin of 52-46, further advancing the rollback of [46th President]-era green energy regulations on household appliances.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is the lead sponsor of the joint resolution of disapproval, HJ Res. 42, which aims to nullify a rule issued by the Energy Department on Oct. 9, 2024, under former [46th President], which added new efficiency and reporting regulations for appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, and AC units.  ...

Senate Approves Resolution to Nix Biden Appliance Rule

A commercial nuclear reactor has begun testing fuel enriched up to 6 percent in the US for the first time

Good news!

"For the first time in the United States, a commercial nuclear reactor has begun testing fuel enriched up to 6 percent uranium-235, exceeding the industry standard of 3 to 5 percent. More concentrated fuel allows reactors to operate longer before refueling, generate more power, and produce less waste."

"... The advanced fuel – aimed to improve fuel cycle safety and reduce operational costs – was developed under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Accident Tolerant Fuel Program.

According to the Alabama-based nuclear energy power company, the higher enrichment levels make it possible for the fuel to last for a significantly extended period of time while simultaneously operating at increased power levels. ..."

Weekly Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran - Doomslayer

US loads most powerful nuclear fuel to boost electricity output in historic first "This is the first time fuel enriched to over 5 percent will be used in a U.S. commercial nuclear reactor, marking an important step in the country’s nuclear energy progress."

Southern Nuclear Receives Authorization To Install Advanced Fuel With Enrichments Exceeding Historical Limits (original news release from September 2023)

Southern Nuclear's Vogtle power plant in Georgia

Secretary Granholm Statement on DOE Order Vacating 1954 Atomic Energy Commission Decision In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer

This seems to be a dubious decision by the Administration of the phony, compromised, pathological liar, demented and senile 46th President! I don't have the time to research more of the details of this case.

Is this another pet project of the left wing of the Dimocratic Party!

Revision or editing of history in hindsight by government is a serious matter and ought to be carefully evaluated! Those who were involved in the events are dead now and can not be heard anymore!

E.g. has Oppenheimer not admitted in security clearance hearings of 1954 that he was a fellow traveler of the Communist Party? This was a grave  admission in those days of the early phase of the Cold War!

"... As a successor agency to the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Energy has been entrusted with the responsibility to correct the historical record and honor Dr. Oppenheimer’s profound contributions to our national defense and the scientific enterprise at large.  ..."

"... The reconsideration of an order of the AEC concerning an individual long-deceased is not something this Department has ever done and not something that would ordinarily be considered. And yet, the Oppenheimer matter was extraordinary in several respects that merit its reconsideration. The Oppenheimer matter concerned a man who, not long before, had played an indispensable and singular role in the war effort, a man whose loyalty and love of country were never seriously questioned. More troubling, historical evidence suggests that the decision to review Dr. Oppenheimer’s clearance had less to do with a bona fide concern for the security of

restricted data and more to do with a desire on the part of the political leadership of the AEC to discredit Dr. Oppenheimer in public debates over nuclear weapons policy. Such political motives must have no place in our personnel security process. For these reasons, I directed Departmental

staff to review the Oppenheimer matter.  ...

Therefore, we will not reconsider the substantive merits of In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer. ..."

Secretary Granholm Statement on DOE Order Vacating 1954 Atomic Energy Commission Decision In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer | Department of Energy

U.S. Senator John Kennedy Presses DoE Secretary Granholm: What If We Don't Get Cooperation With China And India On Climate Efforts?

Very recommendable! U.S. Senator John Kennedy is tough and smart! He exposed the DoE Secretary Jennifer Granholm to be an utter and clueless fool! Totally unfit for the job!

E.g. the Secretary does have the slightest clue what it would cost the U.S. to become carbon neutral in the near future!
Bravo! 

Six fabulous facts about the Standard Model

The U.S. Department of Energy is selling some rosy colored science glorification to the general public! The Standard Model may have served well, but it probably is insufficient or even wrong!

"... scientists build mathematical models that predict everything from the economy to the weather. ..." 

What a nonsense!

"Today in Symmetry, learn six fabulous facts about one of the most robust scientific models in the world. ..."

What a nonsense! "“A big open question is gravity,” Bose says. “We don’t have any way to account for gravity on subatomic scales.”"

Six fabulous facts about the Standard Model | symmetry magazine

#BlackInPhysics week to build community, increase visibility

This systemic racism is paid for by the U.S. Department of Energy (the taxpayer)! President Trump needs to do more to stop such preferential treatment based on skin color!

Martin Luther King Jr. is spinning in his grave. MLK's Dream is shattered and forgotten! "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!"

#BlackInPhysics week to build community, increase visibility | symmetry magazine Taking place on Twitter and in webinars, #BlackInPhysics week features events geared toward Black physicists, the entire physics community and the general public.

Boosting the representation of Black students by the U.S. Department of Energy

The Cult of Racism and the ideology of inclusion/equity/diversity as spread by the Trump Administration, i.e. the U.S. Department of Energy!

President Trump it is high time to intervene! Mr. President you still have not drained the swamp!

The preferential treatment of individuals based on skin color is gross racism and unconstitutional!

Boosting the representation of Black students | symmetry magazine

The Diversity & Inclusion Propaganda Fermilab

Posted: 8/27/2019 

President Trump needs to stop this propaganda coming out of leading federal research facilities!  In this case it is Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FermiLab). This propaganda is spread by none other than “Copyright 2019 Symmetry Magazine A joint Fermilab/SLAC publication/U.S. Department of Energy | Office of Science”. There still is a lot of swamp to drain in Washington DC!

I have previously blogged about the “The LGBTQ Livermore National Laboratory”.

Now, the world famous Fermilab features “Channeling Shuri as a physicist at Wakandacon

08/27/19 By Bailey Bedford/Fermilab scientist Jessica Esquivel donned a superhero costume to celebrate diversity in STEM, nerdiness and science at Wakandacon in Chicago.”

I don’t think I have to go any deeper into this article, you get the idea! This is again diversity & inclusion propaganda disseminated by top federal research institutions! Appalling! Propaganda trumps science!

Wakandacon hardly qualifies as a science convention! Wakandacon’s “Pillars” reads “In creating Wakandacon we imagined a place free and unshackled from the ravages of racism; of exploitation; of discrimination; of emotional, physical, and sexual violence.”.

I don’t think that any federal employee needs to be featured attending such a conference. This is private, personal business of this employee!

Sources (S):

1. https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/channeling-shuri-as-a-physicist-at-wakandacon (8/27/19)
2. Pillars of Wakandacon