Army spending $2B to build nuclear microreactors at 5 bases

The U.S. Army is investing $2.2 billion in the development of nuclear microreactors at five bases to firm up national security through more dependable energy.

Nuclear microreactors can produce 1-20 megawatts of thermal energy that could be used directly as heat or converted to electric power.

Microreactors are built in a factory and are small enough to be transported on a truck, according to the Department of Energy .

They can operate for up to 10 years without refueling, according to the federal government.

Five private vendors were selected to facilitate the rollout of nuclear microreactors on military installations through a project known as the “Janus Program.”

Selected sites are primarily in the South and will helm efforts to build and operate nuclear reactors from fiscal 2027 to fiscal 2031.

“Since launching the Janus Program, our mandate from President Trump and [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has been clear: secure the power our warfighters need to train, deploy and win,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said in a statement .

“Awarding these contracts accelerates our ability to deliver safe, reliable baseload power directly to our installations. We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids,” he added.

Nuclear microreactors will be installed at Fort Bragg, N.C., by Antares Nuclear Inc.; Fort Campbell, Ky., by BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC; Fort Hood, Texas, by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems; Fort Benning, Ga., by Radiant Industries Inc.; and Fort Drum, N.Y., by Westinghouse Government Services.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) specifically requested Fort Drum to be selected for the project because its missions require secure power generation, The Associated Press reported.

“We need more power. We need it delivered faster and cheaper, and we need it to be more reliable,” said Owen West, director of the Department of Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), said in the Army’s statement.

“With Janus, DIU is assisting the Army’s micro reactor build — speeding military energy production to protect the nation,” he added.

There are no nuclear microreactors providing energy to the commercial grid; the military uses diesel as a backup for critical infrastructure.

However, some remain concerned that fuel won’t be available for transport in a national emergency.

The Army has begun testing military installations’ readiness for energy outages under the “ Black Start Exercise ,” which will unexpectedly pull power from sites to test power resilience sometime between August and September, it announced earlier this month.