Halo nuclear microreactor adopts custom simulator to speed first power (original) (raw)

The newly public company Hadron Energy has announced that it has selected GSE Solutions to develop a full-scope, high-fidelity simulator for its Halo Micro-Modular Reactor (MMR). The simulator will prepare future operators for licensing exams and day-to-day operations. It also marks another step toward commercializing the Halo reactor design.

The agreement expands the relationship between the two companies into a strategic alliance. Hadron plans to use the simulator for its first reactor deployment and future commercial units as production scales.

Training comes first

No commercial nuclear reactor in the United States can operate without NRC-licensed personnel in the control room. Those licenses require extensive training, including simulator-based testing that reflects the actual plant operators will oversee.

GSE will oversee the simulator from development through commissioning. Built specifically for the Halo MMR, it will mimic everything from normal plant operations to emergency situations. The system will prepare the first wave of operators and technical staff responsible for bringing the reactor online.

The simulator goes beyond being a simple teaching tool. It represents a regulatory requirement that operators must satisfy before a reactor produces electricity. Without it, a plant cannot move into commercial operation.

Beyond regulatory boxes

The technology also provides engineering value long before fuel reaches the site. Teams can use it to verify procedures, assess control room interactions, and evaluate how operators respond under pressure.

Developing the simulator alongside the reactor design could help Hadron identify potential issues earlier in the process. Engineers can address operability concerns while modifications remain easier and less costly.

“You cannot commission a nuclear plant without certified operators,” Ross Ridenoure, Hadron Energy’s chief nuclear officer, said in a statement. “You cannot certify operators without a high-fidelity simulator that represents the plant they are going to operate.”

Ridenoure said involving GSE during the design phase allows the company to replicate the plant virtually as engineering work continues. That approach can expose human-factors concerns before construction advances too far.

Leveraging industry experience

GSE brings more than 50 years of simulator expertise to the partnership. The company and its predecessors built one of the first commercial full-scope nuclear simulators in 1971. Its experience now spans a broad range of reactor technologies, including pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, CANDU units, VVER designs, and next-generation systems.

Hadron believes that experience can reduce some of the development risks associated with first-of-a-kind nuclear projects. GSE’s background with simulator certification and industry standards could also support a smoother regulatory pathway.

The announcement follows Hadron’s recent partnership with Paragon Energy Solutions, a Mirion Technologies company, to support the Halo MMR’s instrumentation and control architecture. The simulator will ultimately mirror those same control systems during operator training.

“An advanced reactor without trained, licensed operators is not a power plant,” Ridenoure said. “It is an asset sitting idle.”

He added that bringing experienced partners into the program early reflects the disciplined execution shareholders and future customers should expect as Hadron advances toward first power. For Hadron, operator readiness now stands alongside reactor development as a defining milestone on the path to commercialization.

Halo nuclear microreactor adopts custom simulator to speed first power (original) (raw)

Training comes first

Beyond regulatory boxes

Leveraging industry experience

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