The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday it has provisionally selected 11 companies for a new pilot program designed to accelerate the development of advanced small nuclear test reactors. The initiative seeks to demonstrate that factory-built reactors can be deployed quickly and at lower cost than today’s large plants. Under the program, the agency wants at least three of the experimental units to achieve initial operations within the next 12 months. “These companies aim to safely achieve criticality by Independence Day,” Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly said, referencing a July 4, 2026 target. The effort follows executive orders issued in May by President Donald Trump that allow the DOE to authorize test reactors without a separate Nuclear Regulatory Commission license. The companies chosen range from early-stage startups to more established developers and include Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear, Atomic Alchemy, Deep Fission, Last Energy, Oklo, Natura Resources, Radiant Energy, Terrestrial Energy and Valar Atomics. Each participant will finance the design, construction and eventual decommissioning of its own reactor. Washington aims to position the United States in a market now dominated by China and Russia, arguing that small modular reactors could curb costs and meet surging electricity demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. Developers still face hurdles, including securing high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, permitting commercial-scale plants and building dedicated manufacturing lines.