Radiant to Partner with Idaho National Laboratory in $3.9M FEEED Program

The Front-End Engineering and Experiment Design program will support testing of Radiant's Kaleidos microreactor.

October 24, 2023

October 24, 2023- Radiant Industries, Incorporated announced its inclusion in the latest round of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Front-End Engineering and Experiment Design (FEEED) program to support testing of Kaleidos, a portable nuclear microreactor, in the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) test bed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

As one of the three recipients of $3.9M in total awards, Radiant will get the support of the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) at INL to test a fueled prototype of the Kaleidos microreactor, which could be the first advanced nuclear design to be tested within the last 50 years.

“The FEEED process will bring three microreactor designs—Kaleidos, Pylon, and eVinci—one step closer to reality” said Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr. Kathryn Huff. “These technologies will give choices to diverse communities looking to transition to a clean energy future.”

“This award is crucial in keeping our timeline to test Kaleidos in 2026 and produce our first commercial unit in 2028,” said Doug Bernauer, co-founder and CEO of Radiant. “Radiant is focused on developing and testing hardware fast, and this award lets us test and iterate rather than just theorize on a design.”

Victoria Baggio, Radiant COO added, “The testing at the DOME will allow us to gather critical safety and performance data to support our commercial licensing process with the NRC. We’re excited to bring test validated data and analysis to regulators instead of just advanced designs.”

Kaleidos is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) that can provide up to 1 MW of electricity and 1.9 MW of heat for a variety of applications including replacing diesel generators in remote regions and providing energy resiliency for defense installations, hospitals, data centers and other strategic infrastructure. Built to fit in a shipping container, Kaleidos can be transported by land, air, and sea. After delivery, Kaleidos can be installed overnight with no heavy infrastructure and lasts 20 years. The core is refueled back at a Radiant factory every 5 years, a unique feature of our streamlined and secure waste strategy. The fleet is autonomously operated by a fault-tolerant control system with 24/7 remote monitoring by trained staff, adding fleet-level intelligence and modernizing safety through data science.