The US Army will award up to $2.2 billion over five years to five companies to own, construct, and operate nuclear microreactors at five military bases stretching from New York to Texas, with payments tied to performance milestones along the way. The Army expects more than 20 microreactors to be built and operated under the program.
The funding runs through the Army's Janus Program, launched last year to move advanced reactor designs past the experimental and prototype stage into sustained operation. Each reactor will deliver between 1 MW and 20 MW depending on the design, and installations will stay connected to the commercial grid rather than run entirely on reactor output. Large bases consume as much electricity as a small city.
Radiant received a binding agreement worth up to $750 million to develop and deploy 15 Kaleidos microreactors at Fort Benning in Georgia, one of the largest awards issued through the Defense Innovation Unit. Army officials say the reactors give critical infrastructure at installations a power source that runs for years without refueling and holds up if the commercial grid fails.
The Army will license the reactors itself rather than route them through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which handles commercial reactors. Army staff are aligning internal regulatory processes so companies can later pursue NRC licensing without major design changes.
The Army carries a deadline to have an advanced reactor operating at a domestic installation by September 30, 2028. Officials expect billions of dollars in private capital to accompany the federal awards. No microreactor currently supplies power to the US commercial grid.
Source: Power Engineering - https://www.power-eng.com/nuclear/smrs/inside-the-u-s-armys-2b-plan-to-build-microreactors-at-five-bases/