The Versatile Test Reactor Project: Mission, Requirements, and Description

The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy is to advance nuclear power to meet the nation’s energy, environmental, and national security needs. Advanced nuclear technology development, as well as support for the current nuclear power industry, requires a robust infrastructure for experimentation, testing, design evolution, and component qualification. The current lack of fast neutron spectrum testing capabilities has been identified as a significant gap in the U.S. infrastructure that impedes the development of next-generation nuclear reactors—many of which require a fast neutron spectrum for operation—and equally impacts the United States’ ability to regain global technology leadership in this arena. To close the gap and support advanced technology development, the DOE has established the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) project to provide high-performance testing capability, specifically, a fast neutron source to develop, test, and qualify advanced fuels and materials for the next generation of advanced reactors and existing commercial reactors. This paper describes the establishment of the project, the identification of its mission and requirements, and the design approach and status.