As part of the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative, Deployable Energy’s demonstration reactor, Unity, successfully completed a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration at Idaho National Laboratory, DOE reported on July 1.
Unity, which achieved criticality on June 30, is the third DOE-authorized advanced reactor to go critical by the July 4th deadline set by President Trump in his May 2025 executive order.
"This criticality marks DOE’s fulfillment of a precedent-setting directive to reignite nuclear energy innovation in the United States," it said.
In June, Antares Nuclear’s Mark-0 and Valar Atomics’ Ward 250 reactors achieved criticality under DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program, making the United States the first country in history to achieve criticality in three unique advanced microreactor designs in a single month.
Deployable Energy completed the Unity criticality experiment under the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative, managed by the National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory.
The next evolution of the Reactor Pilot Program, Nuclear Energy Launch Pad leverages DOE authorization to expeditiously certify and construct first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear technologies for demonstration.
"As the first Nuclear Energy Launch Pad project to achieve the criticality milestone, Unity demonstrates how leveraging the national laboratory’s resources can expedite critical experiments and reactor demonstrations," DOE said.
