California-based reactor company Kairos Power has begun hot commissioning of its first non-nuclear test unit as it continues its development of advanced nuclear technology.

The company, which is developing advanced fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) technology, said its operations team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had been putting the engineering testing unit (ETU) through its paces, circulating argon gas through the system and heating it up in preparation to load molten salt coolant.

Engineers are monitoring progress via control rooms at Kairos Power facilities, where temperature plots and infrared displays track the heat-up in real time. Having completed hot argon testing, the team will now prepare the system for “Flibe” operations.