US Air Force department names firms to power its bases with mini nukes

Three vendors matched to three sites
The US Department of the Air Force (DAF) has selected three companies for possible nuclear microreactor projects at three of its installations under a program aimed at improving energy resilience if the electricity grid goes down.

According to the DAF, the companies selected are Radiant Industries , Westinghouse , and Antares Nuclear, which have each been paired with a different DAF site.

These are Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado for Radiant; Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana for Westinghouse Government Services; and Joint Base San Antonio in Texas for Antares Nuclear.

Next steps will involve siting and environmental analyses as part of the National Environmental Policy Act process.

No formal contracts appear to have been awarded as yet.

The sites were selected as part of the department's approach to energy resilience, focused on aligning mission requirements and site-specific characteristics, it said.

This is being conducted as part of the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) initiative, which was first announced back in 2024.

Its stated objective is to demonstrate the capability to provide safe and reliable electricity in support of mission critical assets, fielding a scalable microreactor system capable of producing enough electrical power to meet all loads at a given site.

"The future of air and space dominance is powered by resilient energy," said Michael Borders, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations and Environment.

"By integrating advanced nuclear technology, we are not just keeping the lights on, we are guaranteeing that our most critical national security missions will never be held at risk by a power outage.

This is a pivotal moment for the Department of the Air Force."
A microreactor is a small, factory-built reactor designed to produce between 1 and 50 megawatts of power, making it smaller than the small modular reactors (SMRs) now being developed by various organizations around the world.

The US Department of Energy defines a microreactor as a factory fabricated unit small enough to be transported by truck or aircraft, and which is self-adjusting, with passive safety systems to prevent overheating or reactor meltdown.

The ANPI initiative aims to have at least one advanced nuclear reactor operating on at least one DAF site by 2030 "or sooner," which is an ambitious target for a largely unproven technology.

However, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright declared last year that he expected the country to have at least one small nuclear power plant up and running by July 2026, ready for America's big 250 th anniversary.

In fact, the Reactor Pilot Program says it aims to have at least three advanced reactor concepts reach criticality by July 4.

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