IDAHO FALLS, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 6, 2026--
The advanced nuclear energy company Antares received U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approval of the Documented Safety Analysis for its Mark-0 reactor under DOE standard 1271.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260406531563/en/
This approval follows Antares' Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis approval in January 2026. This milestone reflects DOE's acceptance of the final design for the Mark-0 reactor and the safety case supporting it.
Antares now begins the DOE Readiness Review process, the final phase before the DOE approves the startup of our reactor pilot. Antares remains on track to go critical ahead of July 4, 2026.
“We are entering the final innings, and that’s incredibly exciting,” said Jordan Bramble, CEO and founder of Antares. “Getting here was only possible with strong support from our partners at Idaho National Laboratory and BWXT, and leadership at DOE, along with relentless work from the Antares team.”
"We developed this timeline in 2023, and we have hit every milestone since," said Bramble. "This is a clear sign that we are proving our safety basis every step of the way, and I’m proud of the way this team has cleared key checkpoints, on schedule, again and again.”
“The Department of Energy is pleased to see Antares reach this important milestone,” said Rian Bahran, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Reactors. “We remain committed to working with innovative companies like Antares to reach the President’s ambitious goal of ensuring at least three reactors reach criticality before July 4, 2026.”
The Mark-0 demonstration will validate reactor physics, neutronics models, and the instrumentation and control system that will also be used in the Mark-1 electricity-producing reactor planned for 2027. Fuel fabrication for the company’s first reactors has been underway through BWX Technologies since October 2025, using HALEU fuel secured through a DOE allocation.
Following the Mark-0 demonstration, Antares will use the same test facility and fuel batch for its Mark-1 reactor in 2027, advancing toward initial deployments for defense and space customers in 2028.
About Antares
Antares is building compact nuclear microreactors to deliver reliable, rapidly deployable energy where it’s needed most: remote military bases, austere industrial sites, and, one day, deep space and underwater missions. For more information, visit https://antaresindustries.com/.
Antares Receives DOE Documented Safety Analysis Approval for Mark-0 Demonstration Reactor
Football at its very best.
That was Arne Slot's memory of Liverpool’s richly entertaining meeting with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last season.
OK, Liverpool ultimately went out, beaten at Anfield in a round-of-16 penalty shootout by the team that would go on to win the competition for the first time, but Slot loved the way his side played and still maintains it was “the best game I’ve managed in my career.”
They meet again almost 12 months on, with Liverpool — and Slot — in a very different place.
The Dutch coach appears to be fighting for his job heading into the quarterfinal doubleheader with the European champion that starts with the first leg in Paris on Wednesday.
A 4-0 loss at Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday was Liverpool's latest poor result of a season that initially began with so much hope after the club's record summer splurge of $570 million on new players on the back of cruising to the Premier League title.
With the Reds having long given up hope of retaining their league title, the Champions League is their only remaining chance of a trophy.
On current form, that looks unlikely.
While Liverpool has lost four of its last seven games in all competitions in a run of results that has piled the pressure on Slot, PSG is on a four-match winning run that contains back-to-back victories over Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16 (5-2 and 3-0).
Only one team has retained the Champions League since the turn of the century — Real Madrid won it for three straight years from 2016 — but PSG looks in good shape to do so.
Slot and Liverpool might just be happy to get out of the Parc des Princes with a fighting chance of advancing going into the second leg at Anfield.
There are three other quarterfinals: Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon vs. Arsenal.
It's one of the more unlikely Champions League facts: Madrid and Munich — winners of the title a combined 21 times — still haven't met in the final.
They won't this season, either.
The two heavyweights are, however, meeting in the knockout stage for the sixth time in the past 14 seasons — and it has been a one-sided rivalry.
Madrid, the record 15-time champion, has won four of five two-leg matchups with Bayern since the 2011-12 season; once in the quarterfinals and three times in the semifinals, most recently in 2024. Bayern won in the 2012 semifinals after a penalty shootout.
Bayern might never have a better chance to end that miserable run, given the German champions are unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions. Star striker Harry Kane is available despite missing Saturday's win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga with a minor ankle issue sustained in England training last week.
Madrid is coming off a comfortable round-of-16 win over Man City but, more recently, a 2-1 loss at Mallorca on Saturday that hurt its Spanish league title hopes.
The players of Spanish rivals Barcelona and Atletico might be sick of the sight of each other by next week's second leg.
That's because their Champions League doubleheader will complete a barrage of five meetings between the teams in two months, culminating in three matches in 10 days.
On Saturday, Barcelona came from behind to beat Atletico 2-1 on the road to strengthen its hold on the La Liga lead. In February, they met in the Copa Del Rey with each winning big at home and Atletico advancing on aggregate.
They have met twice in the Champions League knockout stages and both times at the quarterfinal stage, with Atletico going through in 2014 and 2016 on its run to the final each season. Atletico played the second leg at home on those occasions, too.
The first leg of their current head-to-head is on Wednesday.
Fresh from guiding Sweden into the World Cup, Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres makes a first return to the club that turned him into a globally renowned striker.
“The whole group was happy for him" after his transfer, Sporting defender Maximiliano Araújo said on Monday. “He did some very good things (for Sporting). This year at Arsenal I think he’s also doing very well, he’s scoring a lot of goals, and he also secured qualification for the World Cup with his national team. I wish him all the best.”
At Sporting, Gyökeres scored 97 goals in 102 games, including 54 last season when he outscored the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah. Quite the rise, then, for someone who previously had barely played a top-tier league game.
Since joining Arsenal for $85 million, goals haven’t been so easy to come by — he has 16 in 42 matches in all competitions — but remains first choice under coach Mikel Arteta, who values his line-leading qualities.
And, after his recent heroics for Sweden when he grabbed a hat trick against Ukraine and then the crucial late goal against Poland in the winner-takes-all playoff, Gyökeres should be full of confidence on his return to Lisbon for Tuesday's match.
Sporting will look to make home advantage count like it did in the round of 16, completing a turnaround against Bodø/Glimt by winning the second leg 5-0 for one of the great Champions League fightbacks.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres applauds to supporters at the end of the World Cup playoff semifinal soccer match between Ukraine and Sweden in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
France forward Kylian Mbappé (10) sits on a ball during the warm-up before the international friendly soccer match between Colombia and France in Landover, Md., Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
