California-based start-up Radiant Industries has completed the front-end engineering & experiment design (FEED) phase to test a prototype of its Kaleidos microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Kaleidos microreactor is one of the designs could be tested at INL’s DOME microreactor test bed as early as mid-2026.
Radiant was competitively selected last year to complete the FEED process, which includes developing a detailed schedule, budget, design, and test plan for the experiment, as well as a detailed preliminary safety report on its design to ensure safe operations during testing. The FEED process supports developers in designing and planning for the fabrication, construction, and potential testing of fuelled reactor experiments at DOME.
“Completing the FEED phase is a major milestone leading to Radiant’s fuelled reactor test at INL’s DOME facility,” said Tori Shivanandan, Radiant’s Chief Operating Officer. “Radiant was added to the lab’s qualified supplier list, completed numerous design reviews, and submitted our Conceptual Safety Design Report, all while staying on-time and under-budget.”
Radiant will continue to work with the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Reactor Innovation Centre (NRIC) to finalise the design and planning for the Kaleidos experiment. The company plans to also start securing long-lead procurement items in preparation for potential installation at DOME.
The DOME facility is currently being renovated at the former EBR-II containment structure at INL to help defray costs and lower risk for developers pursuing first-of-a-kind reactor technologies. NRIC brings together industry and the national labs to help advanced reactor designs move from the conceptual stage to demonstration stage on the path to deployment.
Kaleidos is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed to produce 1.2 MWe and operate for five or more years without refuelling. It is expected to support broad applications ranging from replacing diesel generators in remote areas, to providing back-up power to hospitals, military installations, and data centres. In addition to FEED, Radiant is also working with DOE and national labs through two Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) voucher awards to advance the Kaleidos design.
