NE students visit Institute for Space and Nuclear Studies

September 15, 2025

photo: Seniors in the in the Department of Nuclear Engineering visited the UNM-ISNPS lab

Seniors in the in the Department of Nuclear Engineering visited the UNM-ISNPS (isnps.unm.edu) lab in the basement of Centennial Engineering building to view and inspect the 1:5 scale model of the developed invention of the fully passive, walk-away safe, fast-spectrum, sodium-cooled VSLLIM (Very Small Long-Life Micro) reactor. It can be deployed with the entire power plant on an 18-wheel truck or a railcar. The plant would generate both heat and electricity for remote communities, military bases in desert and cold areas, and remote mining operations. The VSLLIM plant employs open-air Brayton Cycle Engine to convert the reactor heat to electricity at an efficiency of more than 40%. It operates fully passive, requires no water cooling and can generate 1.0 to 10 MW of thermal power continuously for more than 90 years and more than 6 years, respectively. VSLLIM modular micro reactor design and associated intellectual property disclosures have been licensed by the UNM Rainforest Innovation to Eagle Energy Home - Eagle Energy Metals for commercial development, deployment, and marketing.