US Army bets on nuclear microreactors to keep bases powered if the grid fails

The US Army plans to build nuclear microreactors at five military bases through the Janus Program, testing whether nuclear energy can keep critical operations running if the power grid goes down. The initial rollout assigns five vendors to five installations, with the reactors expected to be commercially operated while the Army provides technical support once they are online.

The effort is aimed at giving bases a fallback power source for communications, weapons, and command-and-control systems during outages or conflict.

The Army selected Antares Nuclear, Inc. for Fort Bragg in North Carolina; BWXT Advanced Technologies, LLC for Fort Campbell in Kentucky; General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems for Fort Hood in Texas; Radiant Industries, Inc. for Fort Benning in Georgia; and Westinghouse Government Services for Fort Drum in New York.

The service said the bases were chosen after reviewing factors such as seismic risk, energy requirements, and costs. Future sites could include other strategically important or remote installations.

Army officials described external commercial grids as potentially vulnerable, while also noting that moving fossil fuels may not always be reliable in a conflict. The Army currently relies on fossil-fuel generators to back up critical infrastructure, but the microreactors are intended to offer a more independent fallback.

Officials also pointed to growing concerns about threats to US bases, including cyberattacks, electromagnetic-spectrum attacks, drones, and other weapon systems.

The Army is awarding up to $2.2 billion in contracts for the first reactors in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, but officials said questions remain about total cost, vendor performance, testing, manufacturing, and broader deployment. Nuclear microreactors generate power through nuclear fission on a smaller scale, but the commercial technology has been experimental for years.

The Army aims to have more than 20 microreactors across Department of Defense installations by 2028, while acknowledging that the rollout schedule is “aggressive but plausible.”