NEXT Lab

Why Nuclear?

Advanced nuclear energy can do more than provide safe, clean, abundant power. It can elevate the standard of living worldwide, improving everything from communication and commerce to the delivery of drinking water and health care. The molten salt reactor being developed at Abilene Christian University is a giant step toward solving the world’s most critical needs.

Advanced nuclear energy can do more than provide safe, clean, abundant power. It can elevate the standard of living worldwide, improving everything from communication and commerce to the delivery of drinking water and health care. The molten salt reactor being developed at Abilene Christian University is a giant step toward solving the world’s most critical needs.

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Cornyn visits ACU’s NEXT Lab, praises nuclear research

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn visited Abilene Christian University’s Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory (NEXT Lab) April 2 to learn more about ACU’s research into advanced molten salt reactors, sponsored by Natura Resources. Cornyn toured the new Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center where nuclear research is underway and where the reactor will be housed. He … Continued
Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center

ACU celebrates grand opening of science, research facility

The Gayle and Max Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center (SERC) – home of Abilene Christian University’s Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory and the future home of one of the first advanced reactors in the United States – opened on Friday with more than 300 people on hand to celebrate the occasion and tour the … Continued

Student works in next lab

ACU NEXT Lab research published in Annals of Nuclear Energy

Students and faculty in the Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory at Abilene Christian University recently published their first peer-reviewed journal article, “A molten salt test loop for component and instrumentation testing,” in the Annals of Nuclear Energy. Highlights of the article include: Development of a forced-flow system for testing molten salt reactor technologies. A molten … Continued

NEXT Lab students

ACU NEXT Lab partners with Teledyne Brown to design molten salt research reactor

Abilene Christian University’s Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory has contracted Teledyne Brown Engineering to perform front-end engineering and design work to produce the first university-based molten salt research reactor (MSRR). “We received interest in working on this first-of-a-kind project from over a dozen top engineering companies,” said Dr. Rusty Towell, director of NEXT Lab and … Continued