Antares Nuclear was named one of 11 participants in the DOE reactor pilot programme in 2025, competing for three demonstration criticality achievements by July 2026. In 2025 the company completed its Conceptual Design Review and Nuclear Safety Design Agreement milestones. Antares is conducting hardware development at a new 145,000 sq-ft facility in Torrance, California, and has initiated TRISO fuel fabrication. For 2026 the company plans a Preliminary Design Review and qualification of core, heat exchanger, and power conversion subsystems.