The Strategic Energy Docket

• The Army has selected five vendors and five military installations for its Janus Program, a major push to place contractor-owned nuclear microreactors on U.S. bases.
• The milestone-based initiative could support more than 20 reactors across War Department installations through 2031.
• The first Army-regulated reactor is targeted to begin operating by September 2028.

By Samuel López | USA Herald

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has taken a decisive step toward bringing nuclear power back onto American military installations, selecting five companies to develop and operate microreactors at bases in North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, Georgia and New York.

The move is part of the Army’s Janus Program, an ambitious energy-resilience initiative that could channel up to $2.2 billion in government funding between fiscal years 2027 and 2031, alongside substantial private-sector capital. The Pentagon’s objective is not merely to test a novel power source. It is to build dependable, long-duration baseload energy systems capable of keeping critical installations running even when conventional grids are strained, attacked or otherwise unavailable.

“This is fundamentally about mission assurance,” the Army’s announcement makes clear. In an era of growing concern over cyberattacks, physical sabotage, extreme weather and wartime threats to civilian infrastructure, a base’s access to continuous power is no longer simply a utility issue. It is a readiness issue.

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

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the program is intended to secure the electricity needed for troops to train, deploy and sustain operations without relying entirely on potentially vulnerable external grids. The selected systems are expected to deliver safe, secure and reliable nuclear power directly to installations, while also helping rebuild domestic industrial capacity in a field where the United States has faced intense global competition.

The Janus Program’s architecture matters as much as its scale. The Army is using milestone-based funding, meaning vendors are to receive government payments only after reaching specified technical objectives. That structure is designed to limit taxpayer exposure to unproven concepts while forcing companies to demonstrate progress in engineering, safety, financing and execution before moving forward.

It is also not a conventional reactor procurement. According to the Army, the prospective awards were negotiated through Other Transaction Authority-based agreements, a mechanism that can give the government greater flexibility than traditional federal contracting rules when pursuing rapid technological development. The prototype reactors will be contractor-owned and contractor-operated, with the Army working alongside utility providers and technical partners as the projects move toward deployment.

That framework places Janus at the intersection of national security policy, federal acquisition law, energy regulation and nuclear safety. The Army said it examined technical risks, vendors’ financial conditions and management capabilities with input from the Energy Department, national laboratories and experts across the military services.

The installations themselves were chosen after a yearlong review that evaluated energy needs, seismic conditions, hydrology and other safety considerations. The message is clear: the Army is not treating these as short-lived demonstrations designed merely to generate headlines. It wants systems that can operate at high capacity for years and eventually compete in a broader commercial market.

Jeff Waksman, the Army’s principal deputy assistant secretary for installations, energy and environment, said Janus will be successful only if it helps multiple companies develop reliable and affordable microreactors that can be sold beyond the military. That ambition could make the program a significant catalyst for a domestic advanced-nuclear sector that has long struggled with cost, permitting, supply-chain and fuel-availability challenges.

The legal and regulatory stakes are equally substantial. Under Executive Order 14299, the Army is tasked with operating a reactor regulated by the Army at a domestic military installation no later than September 30, 2028. The order also directs federal agencies to develop recommendations on the distribution, operation, replacement and eventual removal of advanced reactors and spent nuclear fuel at military sites.

That distinction underscores why Janus will face careful scrutiny in the years ahead. A reactor’s location, fuel supply, waste handling, emergency planning, environmental safeguards and interaction with local utilities are not secondary questions. They are central to whether the program earns public confidence and delivers the resilience the military is promising.

The Army, however, is making a strategic bet that the risks of delay are greater. A force dependent on fragile grid connections may be powerful, but it is also exposed. Microreactors could give critical bases a hardened energy backbone, reduce reliance on distant fuel logistics and create a more durable foundation for everything from command systems to advanced training operations.

Jason Craft, the Janus Program manager, described the selections as a step toward restoring American nuclear preeminence. The real test will come not with the announcement, but with whether these companies can safely deliver reliable power on schedule, under meaningful oversight and at a price that makes the technology viable beyond the Pentagon.

For now, the Army has made its position unmistakable: energy security is national security, and nuclear power is being placed back at the center of the equation. The Army’s Janus announcement marks the opening of one of the most consequential military-energy projects in decades.

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