(ORNL: Oak Ridge, TN) -- In a bold step toward transforming how nuclear infrastructure is built, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Kairos Power and Barnard Construction, has successfully developed and validated large-scale, 3D-printed polymer composite forms for casting complex, high-precision concrete structures that would be technically challenging and costly to produce using conventional methods. The concrete forms are being used at Kairos Power’s Oak Ridge campus, where the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor is currently under construction—a milestone for the future of American nuclear energy.

The 3D-printed forms for the Janus shielding demonstration are precursors to those that Kairos Power and Barnard will employ to construct parts of the Hermes reactor facility. Each section measures roughly 10 ft x 10 ft and is stacked three units high to create a column.

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