US: Radiant sends portable nuclear reactor on a 1,000-mile road trip to prove readiness

Radiant’s 1-MWe Kaleidos microreactor began traveling from El Segundo, California, to Idaho National Laboratory on August 12. The reactor is being transported more than 1,000 miles on a trailer bed. At Idaho National Laboratory, Kaleidos will be installed inside the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments, or DOME, test bed. Radiant will conduct a five-phase testing program covering criticality, heat and power generation, full-power operation and 150 hours of continuous operation without operator assistance. The company will use data from the program for its U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application. Radiant is targeting completion of the campaign in the third quarter of 2026. Kaleidos travels from California to Idaho Radiant designed Kaleidos to be transportable by land, sea and air. “We said we’d make a microreactor that is transportable by land, sea and air. We did. Kaleidos is traveling more than 1,000 miles on a trailer bed,” the company said. Radiant said the unit being delivered to DOME uses the same design, scale and commercial fuel load planned for reactors manufactured at its proposed R-50 production facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. “The unit now on its way to Idaho isn’t a simplified stand-in,” Radiant . “Kaleidos is the same design, at the same scale, with the same commercial fuel load, that will roll off the production line at Radiant’s R-50 factory in Oak Ridge and ship to customers,” they added. Reactor faces five testing phases DOME uses the repurposed containment structure of a former experimental breeder reactor. The facility allows developers to test experimental reactor designs and collect performance data. Radiant’s five-phase program will begin with zero-power criticality. Testing will then advance to heat and power generation, full-power operation and a final 150-hour continuous run without operator intervention. “Every phase of testing it undergoes, from criticality to 1 MWe thermal operation, to full power, and a capstone 150-hour continuous run without operator intervention, generates data that feeds directly into Radiant’s NRC license application and de-risks manufacturing and deployment at commercial scale,” Radiant said. After Kaleidos is installed inside DOME, it will be loaded with tri-structural isotropic, or TRISO, fuel. The loading will take place under the oversight of the U.S. Department of Energy and Idaho National Laboratory. Standard Nuclear fabricated the fuel to Radiant’s specifications earlier in 2026. First commercial reactor scheduled for 2028 Radiant’s Part 70 license application for the proposed R-50 microreactor production facility is under review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company is targeting regulatory approval in the final quarter of 2026. The Oak Ridge facility is planned to manufacture commercial Kaleidos reactors for shipment to customers. Radiant has also signed an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to deliver its first commercial microreactor to Buckley Space Force Base. Delivery to the military installation is scheduled for 2028. “Radiant’s testing campaign will ensure we deliver Kaleidos to Buckley Space Force Base by 2028,” the company said. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.