The paper describes the status and the main technical achievements in view of the preparation of the TRADE experiment to be performed in the TRIGA reactor of the ENEA Casaccia Centre in Italy. The first beam operation is foreseen for early 2007 and the first operation of the full experiment in TRIGA by early 2008. Substantial improvements have recently been introduced with respect to the original design developed in 2002-2003, both in the functionality of the components and in the general layout of the experiment, within the main target goals already described in previous papers [1,2]. The main additional elements of TRADE with respect to the already-existing TRIGA-1 MWatt reactor are: (1) a high-energy accelerator with a suitable current and conservative, well-proven technologies, (2) a beam transport line to bring the beam in the TRIGA reactor operated as a subcritical system, (3) a solid target inserted in the core of TRIGA with the purpose of producing an adequate neutron source by the spallation reaction, and (4) additional shielding due to the production and injection of a particle beam in order to conservatively ensure an adequate radiation protection of the above new components. The accelerator chosen is a compact negative ion (H–) accelerator with an energy of approximately 140 MeV and a variable current with a maximum of about 300 mA. The beam transport has been drastically simplified with respect to previous designs, reducing the integrated bending power to the minimal 90 required by the difference in orientation of the horizontal accelerator and the vertical access tube to the spallation target. The presence of an extracted proton beam introduces significant contributions in terms of beam losses and additional radioactivity in the immediate vicinities of the accelerator, beam transport and target. To this effect additional shields have been introduced both in the regions immediately adjacent to the active elements and some additional conservative shielding in the form of a full “box” around the full reactor building, but physically well separated from the reactor structure. The present schedule of TRADE foresees the first accelerator operation by early 2007. A period of one year is foreseen for the operation of the beam transport and the spallation target in the so-called “test station” realised in the accelerator building. When all possible certifications of the operability of the target system have been successfully completed the coupling between the accelerator and TRIGA will become operational.