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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and its partners have demonstrated reusable, fiber-reinforced composite forms that could shorten one specialized step in advanced-reactor construction. The forms are 3D-printed at large scale and then precision-machined to shape concrete, including complex radiation-shielding geometries that are difficult to produce with conventional steel molds.
ORNL reports that the new forms can be designed, printed and delivered in about two weeks, compared with approximately six months for conventional steel molds. That is a formwork lead-time comparison—not a promise that an entire reactor will be completed six months sooner.
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What the new method actually prints
The reactor itself is not 3D-printed. The innovation is reusable formwork: a temporary mold used to cast concrete components. Large-scale additive manufacturing creates the basic composite form, while precision machining finishes critical surfaces to the required dimensions.
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Why formwork can become a nuclear-construction bottleneck
Concrete shielding and structural elements are built around their molds. When a project needs an unusual shape, conventional steel tooling must be engineered, fabricated and finished before concrete casting can begin. ORNL’s reported comparison puts that process at roughly six months.
The printed composite approach shifts much of the work to a digital design and manufacturing workflow. A form can be revised from the design file, produced at large scale and machined for precision, potentially allowing construction teams to respond more quickly to updated geometry or on-site requirements. The forms are intended for reuse rather than one-time casting.
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How fast are the new forms?
| Formwork approach | Reported production timing | What the figure covers |
|---|---|---|
| Reusable 3D-printed, fiber-reinforced composite forms | About two weeks | Design, large-scale printing and delivery, followed by precision machining as part of the process |
| Conventional steel molds | Approximately six months | Fabrication of the specialized steel form |
These figures describe the time to produce specialized forms. They do not include the full engineering, permitting, safety reviews, concrete work, installation, inspection or other activities that determine a reactor project’s total schedule.
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The technology reached full-scale demonstrations at Kairos Power’s Oak Ridge campus in Tennessee, where the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor is under construction. In the Janus cast-in-place concrete shielding demonstration, three 10-foot-by-10-foot sections were stacked into a column.
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The Janus forms are precursors to forms planned for portions of the Hermes facility. The demonstration does not mean that the entire Hermes facility is being built with 3D-printed formwork; it shows that the approach can be used at the scale and pressure conditions relevant to the project.
What the demonstration showed
- Dimensional control: Critical surfaces reached one-sixteenth-inch precision.
- Structural performance during casting: The forms withstood the substantial pressure exerted by the concrete they shaped.
- Complex geometry: Large-scale additive manufacturing and machining produced reusable forms for shapes that are difficult to make with conventional formwork.
- Full-scale relevance: The Janus demonstration used 10-foot-by-10-foot shielding sections rather than a small laboratory coupon.
Does this shorten the whole reactor schedule?
It can remove a potential bottleneck, but the evidence supports a narrower conclusion: the form-production step may be much faster. A two-week form lead time does not translate automatically into a two-week reduction in the construction schedule, because reactor work proceeds through interdependent design, procurement, quality assurance, regulatory and safety requirements.
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Schedule gains will also depend on how many forms a project needs, whether they can be reused between pours, how quickly designs are approved, and how smoothly the forms fit the site’s reinforcement, concrete-placement and inspection processes. The available demonstration does not establish a complete project cost or lifecycle comparison with steel formwork.
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Who developed the process
The work brought together ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, Kairos Power, the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, Barnard Construction, Airtech Advanced Materials Group, JuggerBot 3D, Additive Engineering Solutions, Haddy and Tru-Design.
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The project received the 2026 CAMX Combined Strength Award. ORNL’s Ahmed Arabi Hassen said accelerating advanced-nuclear deployment requires rethinking how reactors are built as well as how they are designed. ORNL associate laboratory director Robert Wagner described the award as evidence of what national laboratories, universities and industry can achieve by moving advanced-manufacturing methods into real-world use.
What to watch next
- Whether additional Hermes structures use the planned printed forms in routine construction.
- How many casting cycles the composite forms can complete before repair or replacement.
- How designs, machining tolerances and inspection records are incorporated into nuclear quality-assurance processes.
- Whether the approach scales economically across multiple reactor projects; no complete cost comparison with steel molds is established here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Hermes reactor being 3D-printed?
No. The demonstrated technology prints reusable composite forms used to cast concrete shielding and other structures; it does not print the complete reactor.
What was the Janus demonstration?
It was a full-scale cast-in-place concrete shielding demonstration at Kairos Power’s Oak Ridge campus, using three 10-foot-by-10-foot sections stacked into a column.
How precise are the printed forms?
ORNL reported one-sixteenth-inch precision on critical surfaces.
The Bottom Line
The method could make specialized nuclear-construction formwork available in weeks instead of months, helping remove a genuine bottleneck. Its demonstrated benefit is faster, reusable tooling—not proof that an entire advanced reactor can be built six months sooner.
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