Fissionaire's Director of Engineering, Ben de Putter, and COO, Scott Ferrara, recently attended Idaho National Laboratory's (INL) Microreactor Program Review.
While Fissionaire is focused on our Thermal Spectrum Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (TS-MSBR), the crossover between the microreactor community and the SMR class is significant. We share many of the same hurdles in licensing, siting research, and hardware development. This review provided a deep dive into the technical progress of FY26 and a look at how R&D infrastructure at national laboratories supports the critical needs of developers across the advanced nuclear space.
A major focal point of the trip was the MARVEL project, a nuclear microreactor test bed project led by INL under the DOE Microreactor Program. Witnessing this progress firsthand gives our team valuable context as we develop and refine our own modeling and simulation tools.
Ben de Putter shared his takeaway from the visit:
"The program is heavily focused on MARVEL, especially regarding integration with data centers and on-demand power conversion. There is a lot of crossover here for our SMR class. It is encouraging to see the level of information INL is sharing about their build process and lessons learned. While not every detail applies to our specific TS-MSBR design, the data on hardware maturity and system integration is exactly what we need to move faster."
Both microreactors and SMRs hold keys to unlocking a future of abundant energy. They share revolutionary potential across a range of new applications: microchip manufacturing, petrochemical production, healthcare, desalination, hydrogen production, data centers, and beyond.
There’s nothing small or micro about this, it's the hardware that will power the next generation of industry and infrastructure.
We are excited to keep building on these connections as we mature our technology roadmap.
(Photo credits: INL.gov)
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