The United States Army announced on Wednesday, August 27, 2026, that it will award $2.2 billion (€1.7 billion) in contracts to five companies to build and operate small nuclear microreactors at five military bases across the country. These microreactors are designed to be transportable and capable of providing up to 20 megawatts of power each.

The program aims to deploy the first microreactor by the end of September 2028. While the reactors will comply with all environmental and safety regulations applicable to commercial reactors, an Army spokesperson stated that the reactors will be regulated internally by the Army rather than by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees commercial reactors.

Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, said, "The whole idea here is that at the back end of this we want a commercial product." Army Secretary Dan Driscoll added that the awards will accelerate the military's ability "to deliver safe, reliable baseload power directly to our installations."

Radiant's Chief Commercial Officer Mike Starrett told Reuters that the project, named Janus, will enable the company to scale up its business to serve commercial customers such as data centers by around 2030. Rex Geveden, president and CEO of BWXT, stated, "As we commence work on the Janus program, we are delivering the nation's most credible and reliable path to deployable nuclear power."

According to the US Energy Information Administration, the nation's 94 nuclear reactors currently supply about 19% of US electricity, compared to approximately 60% from fossil fuels and 21% from renewables. The Associated Press reported that two previous reactors were completed years late and at least $17 billion over budget.

The Army emphasized the importance of these microreactors in building energy resilience to project combat power globally without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids.

Sources