Unity microreactor will run a full-power test in Idaho's DOME in 2027
Victoria Shinder1 min readDeployable Energy's Unity demonstration reactor has been selected by the US Department of Energy's National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) for testing in the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) testbed at Idaho National Laboratory in 2027, World Nuclear News reported on 7 October.
The reactor. Unity — the company calls it the Nuclear Unity Battery — is a light-water moderated, helium-cooled, transportable microreactor designed to generate 1 MWe. The DOME campaign is a full-power test, building on the zero-power criticality it achieved earlier through NRIC's Nuclear Energy Launch Pad. Unity was the third microreactor to reach initial criticality at NRIC by the 4 July 2026 deadline.
The selection. The DOE says Deployable Energy was competitively chosen from the latest round of applications, submitted in July 2026, and that the testing campaign is self-funded. The timeline depends on technology readiness, fuel availability and regulatory plans, and the company must hit milestones to keep its slot.
The testbed. DOME reuses the containment of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which ran from 1964 to 1994: a dome 30 metres tall and about 24 metres across. It was declared ready for its first fuelled test campaign in April. Radiant goes first with a year-long programme, from zero-power criticality to full heat and power and 150 continuous hours without operator assistance; Deployable Energy will be the second company to test there.
The company names remote communities, emergency response, defence, critical infrastructure and industry as uses — the places where a grid connection is unavailable, impractical or vulnerable.