US Army to Install Up to 20 Nuclear Micro-Reactors on Domestic Bases

The US Army has authorized the construction of up to 20 nuclear micro-reactors across military bases in the continental United States, aiming to provide reliable power for its installations and help rebuild the country's nuclear industrial base. The August 26 announcement is part of the Army's Janus Program, which is developing stationary and transportable micro-reactors for defense use.

The programme's main goal is to give military bases their own baseline electricity supply — not just isolated ones like those in Alaska that face logistical problems, but ordinary bases that have traditionally relied on civilian power grids the Army now considers vulnerable and increasingly unstable. Its second purpose is to support the country's nascent nuclear industry by spreading siting and deployment work across five vendors: BWXT Advanced Technologies, Westinghouse Government Services, Radiant Industries, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, and Antares Nuclear.

Because these micro-reactors are built in factories and shipped to site for installation, they can sidestep some of the hurdles that have slowed conventional nuclear power in the US, where a regulatory system hostile to new plants makes the commercial process expensive, slow and prone to legal challenges. The US military, however, operates under specific regulatory exemptions that give it far more latitude to install reactors for its own use.

The 20 reactors will be deployed across five of nine candidate sites: Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Drum in New York, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Wainwright in Alaska, Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee, Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. If the project stays on schedule, deployments will begin between 2028 and 2030.

"The Janus Program is grabbing the baton from Project Pele and the [Department of Energy's] Reactor Pilot Program," said Dr. Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. "We are seeking not just reactors capable of turning on for a brief demonstration, but rather systems able to deliver power with high-capacity factors for years of operation. The Janus Program will be a complete success when and only when we have assisted multiple nuclear companies in developing truly reliable and affordable nuclear micro-reactors which they can sell to other buyers beyond just the military."