Most nuclear developers will miss DOE's July 2026 criticality milestone
Katie Huff · The path to market for new nuclear reactors · Feb 5, 2026 · at 23:00
Former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Katie Huff assesses the feasibility of the DOE pilot program targeting test reactor criticality across three startups by July 4, 2026.
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“I don't think a lot of reactors really are on pace for that July fourth milestone because it's an extremely aggressive milestone, and I think it's a little unfair to the nuclear industry actually to sort of set these very aggressive milestones when the reality is that it's a These are extremely high precision machines. They don't happen overnight.”
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