
The prototype of a mobile nuclear reactor under development at the Department of Defense will be powered by advanced fuel sourced from within the U.S., the project lead said last week. The Project Pele micro-reactor prototype “will use fully unencumbered nuclear fuel,” program manager Jeff Waksman said in an emailed statement Friday. The Pele reactor, a high-temperature gas reactor designed to be easily transportable, will use high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) tristructural isotopic (TRISO) fuel. Whether the DoD’s future deployed…