The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted Abilene Christian University’s (ACU’s) construction permit application for a 1-MWth nuclear non-power Molten Salt Research Reactor (MSRR) facility planned for the university’s campus in Abilene, north-central Texas.
The acceptance—which essentially marks the NRC “docketing” of the application—formally kicks off the regulatory agency’s review of ACU’s proposed Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing (NEXT) Laboratory. The NRC said on Nov. 21 that owing to pre-application activities that began in March 2020, staff expects to complete its environmental and safety reviews by May 2024.
