The US Department of Energy (DoE) is moving forward with testing two tiny nuclear reactors, known as microreactors, at its Idaho National Laboratory. The reactors, designed by Westinghouse and Radiant, are small enough to fit on a trailer and produce significantly less power than traditional nuclear reactors.
The microreactors will be tested at the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility, which is being built using parts from an earlier experimental reactor. The tests aim to evaluate the safety and performance of these new reactor designs, with plans to operate them for six months each.
Microreactors are one step down from small modular reactors, but offer a promising alternative for powering small remote sites, such as datacenters or military bases. Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor can produce up to 5 megawatts of power for eight years without refueling, while Radiant’s Kaleidos unit is limited to just 1.2 megawatts.
The DoE hopes that microreactors will play a significant role in expanding nuclear power in the US, with plans to test new designs that can reliably power homes and critical infrastructure. The experiments are a small step towards commercializing these reactor technologies and could pave the way for wider adoption of microreactors in the future.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/07/trailer_sized_microreactors