Four nuclear reactors hit a big milestone in the US
Four nuclear reactors hit a big milestone in the US
美国四座核反应堆达成重要里程碑
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I was really looking forward to July 4, and not just because I love a poolside barbecue. This year the American holiday also marked a big symbolic deadline for US nuclear power. 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.
执行摘要 我非常期待 7 月 4 日，不仅仅是因为我喜欢池畔烧烤。今年的美国国庆日也标志着美国核能发展的一个重要象征性截止日期。去年，特朗普政府设定了一个目标，即在建国 250 周年之际，实现三座新型微型反应堆达到“临界状态”（criticality）——这是一项技术里程碑，证明反应堆能够维持链式反应。而就在截止日期前，四座反应堆成功达成了这一目标。
It was a lofty goal, and seeing not just three but four companies meet it is certainly a positive sign for emerging nuclear technologies at a time when the world is facing increased need to increase electricity supply and address climate change with emissions-free technologies. But achieving criticality doesn’t mean a reactor is ready to provide electricity for the grid (or at all, for that matter). Let’s untangle what this program’s success could mean for nuclear power in the US, and where these companies might go from here.
这是一个宏伟的目标，看到不仅有三家、而是四家公司实现了这一目标，对于新兴核技术而言无疑是一个积极的信号。当前，世界正面临增加电力供应的迫切需求，并需要利用零排放技术应对气候变化。然而，达到临界状态并不意味着反应堆已经准备好为电网供电（甚至根本不意味着它能供电）。让我们来剖析一下该项目的成功对美国核能意味着什么，以及这些公司接下来的发展方向。
The Reactor Pilot Program essentially opened a special door for prototype reactors to fast-track development. In August, 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.
“反应堆试点计划”（Reactor Pilot Program）本质上为原型反应堆开辟了一条快速发展的特殊通道。去年 8 月，美国能源部为该计划选定了 11 个反应堆项目，并为它们提供了土地和国家实验室系统的支持。这些都是微型反应堆；而目前主导电网的大型轻水反应堆的规模是它们的几十甚至几百倍。
Antares Nuclear was the first to achieve criticality, reaching the milestone in June in its Mark-0 test reactor. Reactors from Valar Atomics, Deployable Energy, and Aalo Atomics followed. (Aalo hit the mark in the early hours of July 4—an inspiring example of just barely meeting a deadline.) The speed with which these companies hit this milestone is impressive, especially in an industry known for massive projects that frequently blow past deadlines and stated budgets. (Valar, Antares, and Aalo were all founded in 2023, and Deployable started in 2025.)
Antares Nuclear 公司率先实现了临界状态，其 Mark-0 测试反应堆于 6 月达成了这一里程碑。随后，Valar Atomics、Deployable Energy 和 Aalo Atomics 公司的反应堆也相继达成目标。（Aalo 在 7 月 4 日凌晨达标，这堪称在最后期限前惊险完成任务的励志案例。）这些公司达成里程碑的速度令人印象深刻，特别是在这样一个以大型项目频繁延期和超支而闻名的行业中。（Valar、Antares 和 Aalo 均成立于 2023 年，而 Deployable 成立于 2025 年。）
But reaching criticality and running a reactor that can produce electricity are two totally different things. All these reactors reached what’s called zero-power criticality. Basically, it’s a test of whether you can start a nuclear chain reaction, with no meaningful power coming from the grid. “A zero-power-criticality test can be achieved without making real engineering progress on fuel or design,” Kathryn Huff, a former assistant secretary for nuclear energy and chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said on an episode of the Catalyst podcast earlier this year.
但达到临界状态与运行能够发电的反应堆是两码事。所有这些反应堆达到的都是所谓的“零功率临界状态”。简单来说，这只是测试你是否能启动核链式反应，而反应堆本身并没有产生任何实质性的电力输出。威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校核工程与工程物理系主任、前能源部核能助理部长凯瑟琳·赫夫（Kathryn Huff）在今年早些时候的一期《Catalyst》播客中表示：“零功率临界测试可以在燃料或设计方面没有取得实质性工程进展的情况下实现。”
Now, with the completion of this program, the companies will need to continue their work to make power, which could involve some big technical challenges. In some cases they’ll need to add significant equipment, like the cooling systems to transfer the heat out of the reactor core. The companies are projecting aggressive timelines moving forward. Aalo says it’s already begun work on the second reactor and plans to produce 10 megawatts of electricity to power an on-site data center in 2027. Deployable Energy says it plans to deploy commercial reactors by 2028.
现在，随着该计划的完成，这些公司需要继续努力实现发电，这可能涉及重大的技术挑战。在某些情况下，他们需要增加关键设备，例如将热量从反应堆堆芯导出的冷却系统。这些公司对未来的时间表设定了激进的目标。Aalo 表示已开始建造第二座反应堆，并计划在 2027 年生产 10 兆瓦电力，为现场数据中心供电。Deployable Energy 则表示计划在 2028 年部署商业反应堆。
I tend to take timelines from startups, especially in nuclear, with a grain of salt. Not only are these remarkably complex technical machines, but companies often run into problems outside their own control, like regulatory challenges—which these new projects could soon face. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in charge of civilian and commercial nuclear use in the US, and historically, the process to get nuclear reactors approved has been quite slow. The agency did propose a new framework for microreactor approvals earlier this year, which is designed to speed up the process—but it’s yet to be seen how quickly things will move. (And it’s worth noting here that some nuclear experts have questioned whether the agency under the Trump administration is loosening nuclear rules too much.)
对于初创公司（尤其是核能领域的初创公司）给出的时间表，我通常持保留态度。这些不仅是极其复杂的技术机器，而且公司经常会遇到自身无法控制的问题，例如监管挑战——这些新项目很快就可能面临这一问题。美国核管理委员会（NRC）负责美国的民用和商用核能使用，从历史上看，核反应堆的审批流程一直非常缓慢。该机构在今年早些时候确实提出了针对微型反应堆审批的新框架，旨在加快流程，但进展速度还有待观察。（值得注意的是，一些核专家质疑在特朗普政府领导下，该机构是否在过度放宽核能监管规则。）
Some nuclear supporters aren’t applauding the microreactor milestone. Federal focus on the program is an “unhelpful diversion” from goals to meaningfully increase nuclear capacity, according to one analysis by Third Way, a public policy think tank. “Artificially accelerating project timelines is a short-term solution, not a long-term fix,” the memo reads. Criticality is a big first step, but a lot will still have to happen for any of these microreactors to come online, much less for these small reactors to be a significant source of electricity for the grid.
一些核能支持者并不为微型反应堆的这一里程碑喝彩。公共政策智库“第三条道路”（Third Way）的一项分析指出，联邦政府对该计划的关注是对“有意义地增加核能容量”这一目标的“无益转移”。备忘录写道：“人为地加快项目进度是短期解决方案，而非长期补救措施。”临界状态是一个重要的第一步，但要让这些微型反应堆投入使用，还有很多工作要做，更不用说让这些小型反应堆成为电网的重要电力来源了。