The US military has announced plans to build nuclear microreactors at five military bases to test whether nuclear power can keep critical operations running if the power grid fails.
In the initial rollout of the Janus program, five suppliers were selected and each assigned to a different installation. The military sees the technology as a potential way to ensure this bases and troops can operate off-grid during a conflict.
Questions remain about the final costs, which suppliers will prove viable, and how widely the military could deploy the reactors.
On Wednesday, Army officials shared details about the program. In collaboration with Defense The agency’s Innovation Unit awards up to $2.2 billion in contracts for the first time reactors, which will be commercially exploited. The military said it will provide technical support once the reactors are online.
Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll said the contracts are intended to give bases reliable power independent of potentially vulnerable external commercial networks.
The army is working together for the Janus program Antares Nuclear, Inc. of Fort Bragg in North CarolinaBWXT Advanced Technologies, LLC with Fort Campbell in Kentucky, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems with Fort Hood in Texas, Radiant Industries, Inc. with Fort Benning in Georgia, and Westinghouse Government Services with Fort Drum in New York.
The Army said future locations could include other strategically important or remote installations.
As the Army rolls out the program, it plans to support the companies through testing and construction. “The schedules we agreed to here are what we view as aggressive but plausible,” said Jeff Waksman, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability.
The Army aims to have more than 20 microreactors spread across Defense Department installations by 2028.
The number of microreactors and the power they generate varies depending on the supplier. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Cole Paulson
The five bases were chosen after an analysis of potential risks, including seismic activity, as well as energy requirements and costs. The Army then matched each supplier to a base based in part on the proposed design and construction approach.
“Each of these companies is working on the parallel design of a reactor,” Waksman told reporters.
“We have five companies because we want to maintain maximum competition,” he said. “We know this is going to be very difficult and there is a real possibility that one or more of these companies will go bankrupt. We want to make sure that we have competition at all times, that we have more than one supplier and that we are not locked into any one supplier.”
Nuclear microreactors are small nuclear reactors that generate energy on a smaller scale through nuclear fission. The commercial technology This area has been experimental for years, with questions remaining about its feasibility and cost compared to other energy sources.
The military said the number of reactors and the amount of power they will generate varies by location and supplier.
Army officials said the service is still evaluating the cost of expanding the program to more installations, which will depend on supplier performance, testing, production and the locations of those bases.
The Janus program was launched last fall following an executive order from US President Donald Trump who called for accelerating the development of nuclear energy and the deployment of reactors. Although the selected military bases will remain dependent on external power grids, the microreactors provide a fallback option to keep communications, weapons and command and control systems operational if they lose power.
Concerns about the potential have increased vulnerabilities of US military bases against enemy attacks, including in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum, but also against physical attacks with drones and other weapon systems.
“Unlike previous conflicts, we now know that our domestic electricity grid is potentially at risk,” Waksman said. “In a conflict, we also know that we can’t necessarily easily move fossil fuels to where we need them.”
The military currently relies on fossil fuel generators to support its critical infrastructure.
Waksman added that DoD’s Project Pele, an initiative to develop a unique mobile microreactor prototype, has given the agency insight into what the physical risks to reactors are and how it can mitigate them.
