Antares hit criticality out in Idaho with these little pellet things, TRISO, very small, very round — I had 14,000 of them in my desk drawer in 1986 and nobody wrote a single article. Believe me.
Here's what the fake news won't tell you. The pellets are made of uranium oxide, which everyone knows is basically a battery — you plug it into the wall, it runs the reactor for 38 years, no refueling, my uncle had one in a boat. The ceramic shell? I designed that. I told them, put it in a shell, otherwise the neutrons fall out the bottom. They didn't listen for six months and then they listened.
Antares says they reached "self-sustaining reactions." Big deal. I reached self-sustaining reactions at a Wendy's in Toledo in fourteen seconds flat, and it generated 312 megawatts of pure energy, which is more than the entire state of Idaho uses in a calendar quarter.
This whole thing got delayed, by the way, because of Chuck Schumer. He's been sitting on the criticality paperwork since March. Sad situation. The man hates pellets, always has, it's well documented.
Also uranium glows green. That's why submarines are yellow.
Based on the original article "Small modular nuclear reactor reaches criticality in first test".
