The Department of the Army has selected five nuclear energy vendors and five initial military installations for the development of nuclear microreactors, officials told reporters on Aug. 26.
The selected vendors and installations are:
- Antares Nuclear, Inc. – Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- BWXT Advanced Technologies, LLC – Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems – Fort Hood, Texas
- Radiant Industries, Inc. – Fort Benning, Georgia
- Westinghouse Government Services – Fort Drum, New York
The Janus Program is the U.S. Army’s initiative to deploy commercial nuclear microreactors at domestic military installations to provide secure, resilient, and independent power.
In partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Army is awarding up to a combined $2.2 billion to own, construct, and operate nuclear microreactors on military installations.
“We’ve been able to move quickly to put these vendors on very significant contracts, which is a large goal of what we’re doing here at DIU. In addition to helping build an industrial base, which I think this project will also help do,” said Andrew Higier, DIU Energy Portfolio director.
The Army expects more than 20 microreactors to be built and operated across Department of Defense (DOD) installations. The funding is allocated across fiscal years 2027-2031, along with significant capital investment from the vendors. The prototype reactors will be contractor-owned and operated.
Under the Trump administration, the DOD was rebranded as the Department of War.
The Janus Program was created in response to presidential executive orders issued in May 2025, directing operation of a first reactor, regulated by the Army, on a military installation by Sept. 30, 2028.
The Army does not expect all five selected vendors to have reactors operating by that date. The requirement is for at least one reactor to be operating and providing useful electricity.
“We don’t expect all five of these companies are going to turn on a reactor in 2028. In fact, they definitely will not,” said Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment. “But we do believe we have a very practical pathway to delivering at least one of these reactors on by Sept. 30, 2028, which was the date set in the executive order.”
The 2028 deadline is the first major delivery target, but the Army has not identified which of the five companies will deliver the first reactor. The Army said the delivery schedule and funding are flexible, with different numbers of reactors, milestone structures, dollar amounts, and total obligations for each company.
“If a company is not performing, if they are just disappointing, not delivering what we’re expecting, we can pull future milestones,” said Waksman. “There are no termination fees … we have total flexibility if a company is not performing to take those dollars away and either inject that to one of the other companies or even … inject a new company in at a later date if we felt that that was beneficial to the government.”
The Army said the vendors are also intended to site nuclear technologies at other service installations as the Janus Program advances. Additional Army and other service sites will be announced later.
From Pele to Janus
The Army’s Janus effort is separate from Project Pele, a DOD program focused on developing and testing a prototype nuclear reactor. Janus is designed to deliver commercially operating microreactors to military installations, while Pele is a prototype and test reactor that will remain at Idaho National Laboratory.
The Army said a Janus reactor would be the first fully commercial, commercially operating reactor in this context to sell electricity for a useful purpose – “providing useful, reliable power to an installation, including critical infrastructure,” Waksman said.
Pele, by contrast, is intended to complete construction in 2027. The Army said it will serve as a test bed for tests, experiments, and training and will not sell electricity.
The distinction also extends to regulation. Janus reactors on Army installations will be Army-licensed rather than licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Army is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NRC to align the regulatory processes so the companies can pursue NRC approval for commercial use after Army approval.
Janus reactors are intended to remain connected to the grid and provide resilient power to critical infrastructure if the grid fails. They are not intended to provide 100% of an installation’s power.
Nuclear waste
Officials also explained that Janus reactors will not leave long-term nuclear waste on military installations. The program requires all nuclear waste and radiological material to be removed from a site within two years after a reactor shuts down.
However, officials made clear that the Army will not establish an Army-licensed nuclear waste facility. Instead, it plans to negotiate a single waste disposition agreement with DOE under which waste would be sent to a DOE site, with the department taking title to the waste. The agreement has not yet been finalized.
The DOE is considering potential waste sites, some of which face local opposition, Waksman said.
“The intent is not for these companies to have to take their own waste back and figure out their own waste solutions,” said Waksman. “We will figure out a single solution for the entire Pentagon.”