Pennsylvania State University (PSU) has announced plans to make the Westinghouse eVinci microreactor a research priority, according to Andrew Read, Senior Vice President for Research at Penn State. “We believe this technology has the potential to change how we think of and use nuclear energy. And with Pennsylvania’s and Penn State’s rich history in nuclear research, FRONTIER is the team to lead this endeavour.”
PSU and Westinghouse have been collaborating since 2022 on FRONTIER – Forging a Renaissance of Nuclear Through Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Research. PSU’s interest in nuclear research began in 1955 when the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor on campus became the first licensed research reactor at a US university. The Breazeale Reactor (PSBR) at Penn State’s Radiation Science & Engineering Center (RSEC) the is longest continuously operating US university research reactor. It supports several research and education activities—and now it’s one of the most productive.
In late February Penn State submitted a letter of intent to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) – a first step in the application process to install an eVinci microreactor at the new research facility. As part of the application process, the University will continue to engage with NRC and determine possible locations for the facility.
The eVinci microreactor design is a heat pipe-cooled transportable reactor that will be fully factory built, fuelled and assembled, and capable of delivering combined heat (up to 13 MWt) and power (up to 5 MWe). Its small size allows for standard transportation methods and rapid, on-site deployment, with superior reliability and minimal maintenance. It will use TRISO (TRI-structural ISOtropic) High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel at 19.5% enrichment. It is one of several advanced reactor designs being supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) intended to accelerate the development and deployment of new reactor technologies.
“We hope to leverage our legacy and produce new research using this new nuclear technology,” said Tonya L Peeples, Harold & Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering at Penn State. “We intend to advance and develop the skilled workforce needed in all areas, including engineering, construction, AI, operations, project management, licensing, safety, security, supply chain and many more.”
Jon Ball, President of eVinci Technologies at Westinghouse said: “Penn State’s new University Park research facility will further solidify Pennsylvania as one of the world’s leading nuclear innovation hubs. We look forward to bringing our advanced eVinci technology to the FRONTIER programme to find new ways of harnessing nuclear energy while providing students and researchers with unprecedented opportunities.”
Westinghouse still needs to submit a licence application to NRC for its design. Westinghouse has been submitting pre-licensing topical reports but the NRC website, updated for the microreactor as of February 2025, does not list a calendar of proposed licensing actions or milestones including a submission date for a licence application.
Currently NRC is developing regulations for advanced reactors which involve 1,300 pages of detailed, prescriptive requirements for getting through the licensing process. A final version of the regulation is expected by September 2026. NRC Chair Christopher Hanson said in a statement on 03/04/25 that a final rule could be issued within 12 to 18 months after the regulation’s publication, taking into account a public comment period. Alternatively, Westinghouse could use current procedures which require a construction licence and an operating licence or which combine the licence application for construction and operations.
Fuel could be another potential complication. DOE is currently procuring enrichment services for HALEU fuels but the schedule for delivery is uncertain. In October 2024 Westinghouse Government Services was one of six firms selected by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy for an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract to provide deconversion services for HALEU production from new domestic capacity. The companies will each get at least $2m each to produce HALEU. The total value of all contract awards the 10-year programme is $800m. DOE stipulated that the combined production of all six firms should be about 300 tonnes of HALEU (as UF6).
Westinghouse, with fuel fabrication plants in the US, UK, and Sweden, signed a deal with Urenco and TRISO-X in 2022 to develop TRISO fuel fabrication production at its Springfields plant in the UK.
In October 2023 Westinghouse announced construction of a design and manufacturing facility near central Pittsburgh to accelerate commercialisation of its eVinci microreactor. The facility will cover engineering and licensing operations, testing, prototype trials, business development and sales. It will also include manufacturing space for producing heat pipes and other components for the eVinci technology, as well as other components. Westinghouse said the location was chosen because of its proximity to Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State – New Kensington, and the University of Pittsburgh, all of which are collaborating on the eVinci technology. Westinghouse says full scale commercial deployment of the eVinci could begin as early as 2029 depending on obtaining an NRC licence and HALEU fuel supplies.
Meanwhile, Westinghouse is to begin to assemble a scaled down eVinci test reactor for deployment at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In September 2024 the eVinci Microreactor Preliminary Safety Design Report (PSDR) was submitted to DOE’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) in support of siting its test reactor at NRIC’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed at INL.
DOME is an 80-foot-tall concrete and steel structure that previously housed the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II until 1994. DOME is intended to host fuelled experiments producing up to 20 MWe that are still small enough to fit on the bed of an 18-wheeler. The experiments will be installed in DOME through a large loading zone that can accept trailer-mounted containers. NRIC has completed the final design for DOME, and it’s expected to be ready for testing in 2026.
