The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) facility – DOME for short, will enable rapid development, testing and demonstration of privately developed advanced nuclear reactors.
DOME is an actual dome, 100 feet (30 metres) tall and 80 feet in diameter, providing a safe environment to test experimental reactor concepts and gather performance data that can be used to inform future commercial licensing applications, helping to accelerate development timelines and ultimately saving money and reducing project risk.
The facility uses the containment structure of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) which operated from 1964 to 1994, and was originally built to demonstrate a complete sodium-cooled breeder reactor power plant. It was later modified to test other reactor designs and to test materials and fuels for fast reactors, as well as generating power and heat for the site. While EBR-II and much of its supporting equipment was subsequently dismantled, the containment structure was left intact and is particularly suited to host reactor demonstration and other nuclear projects.
What makes DOME unique, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy, is that it is the only test bed in the world specifically designed to host fuelled microreactor experiments that generate up to 20 MW of thermal energy.
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Inside the DOME (Image: INL)
“The DOME test bed will be a cornerstone of the Department of Energy’s comprehensive strategy to re-establish US leadership in advanced nuclear technologies,” said Rian Bahran, DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors. “By providing essential infrastructure for testing and validation of new reactor designs, DOME directly supports our programmatic goals, accelerating the development and deployment of innovative solutions vital for energy security and economic growth for the United States. It is a testament to our commitment to a robust nuclear future.”
“NRIC built this test bed to answer the need of industry to have a facility that would enable them to swiftly convert their innovative concepts into practical demonstrations,” NRIC Director Brad Tomer said. “With the information gathered from their testing at DOME, reactor developers will turn pioneering ideas into validated technologies to advance nuclear energy. We are extremely proud to offer this capability and cannot wait to see the impact it has on the nuclear industry.”
Preparations are under way for DOME’s inaugural experiment using nuclear fuel: a year-long testing programme for Radiant Energy’s Kaleidos Demonstration Unit is scheduled to begin this Spring to advance the development of the commercial 1.2 MWe high-temperature gas reactor design.
Westinghouse was also selected last year by DOE to test the eVinci Nuclear Test Reactor to inform the development of its commercial transportable eVinci microreactor in the DOME.
