The U.S. Army plans to spend up to $2.2 billion to power five military bases with nuclear microreactors, a move the service hopes will help it develop a way to keep critical operations running without depending on commercial power for extended periods.
These five companies, listed in the Army announcement in no particular order, will compete for funding over a five-year period to achieve the required milestones. Funding for each contract will be awarded based on the recipient's progress in achieving program requirements. Ultimately, the Army plans to build and operate more than 20 nuclear microreactors at military bases across the country. Each of these small nuclear power plants will be designed to produce between 1 megawatt and 20 megawatts of electricity. They will be designed to be operated in parallel with the commercial power grid at military bases and will provide power in addition to what is currently supplied by the commercial power companies.
Antares Nuclear will work with Fort Bragg in North Carolina, BWXT with Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems at Fort Hood in Texas. A team led by Radiant Industries will work at Fort Benning in Georgia and Westinghouse Government Services at Fort Drum in New York. The Army picked five companies for the program in part to reduce the execution risk of trying to put advanced nuclear technology into sustained operation.
This effort is also part of the broader Janus Program effort to move experimental nuclear technology into sustained operation.
To support army training, operations, and missions to protect the homeland, it is critical to have a source of continuous power to support critical infrastructure in the event of a prolonged grid disruption. Microreactors can operate for years without refueling and will provide safe, reliable baseload power directly to Army installations, said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. "We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids," he said.
Diesel generators currently provide the Army's backup power. However, during a conflict, transporting large quantities of fossil fuels could become problematic. The Army is looking for an energy source that can sustain for long periods of time and operate independently.
All five companies selected will be expected to deploy more than 20 of the nuclear microreactors to Army installations. The Janus program's goal is to help reactor designers take successful prototypes and move them into full commercial operation. "These are not meant to be Army-specific designs," said Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment. The funding of federal dollars and billions of private sector investment, Waksman said, will align with Army requirements and help the companies to design reactors to Army specifications.
Unlike commercial nuclear power plants the reactors will be licensed by the Army and not by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In developing requirements for these reactors the Army is trying to align them with what would be needed to get a civil license. The Army is working with the Energy Department to look at how the waste will be removed from these reactors. There are no plans to store long-term waste at these five installations.
This push to nuclear power follows a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump in May 2025 to increase development of nuclear power. One of the orders called for the military to have an advanced reactor operational at a domestic installation by September 30, 2028. The nuclear microreactors that the Army plans to utilize do not currently supply power to the U.S. commercial grid.
actually easy. they could put the station transformer on the bases, all of the bases. most of them have one already to supply from the grid out in town., tie in there.
anyways. each base has the reactor, they are modular, they fit on the back of a few semi trucks, so in essence you can drive them and park them at the bases needed, as they are needed. in the event of hurricanes and stuff, they could provide temporary power that way too. the navy would benefit a lot from this as well