Back in October 2025, the U.S. Army unveiled the Janus Program to supply portable nuclear microreactors to military bases by 2028. Whereas these reactors are much smaller than conventional nuclear plants, they typically generate 1-20 megawatts of electricity per reactor, significantly more than what the biggest portable generators can manage. That makes them ideal for the military, considering that major military bases consume as much power as a small city. The military logic is that in a conflict, transporting fossil fuels to remote front lines creates an easy target, while localized nuclear reactors can operate for years without refueling. To that end, the U.S. Army has awarded up to $2.2 billion over five years to both private and public companies to build, own, and operate commercial nuclear microreactors at five domestic military bases, estimating that 20 microreactors will be deployed under the program. Five vendors have already been selected to design and deploy the microreactors at specific installations, with Antares Nuclear slated to build a microreactor at Fort Bragg in North Carolina; BWXT Technologies (NYSE:BWXT) is slated for Fort Campbell in Kentucky, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will build one at Fort Hood in Texas, Radiant Industries is slated for Fort Benning in Georgia while Westinghouse Government Services will build one at Fort Drum in New York.
Nuclear startups Radiant Industries secured a contract worth up to $750 million to deploy 15 of its 1-MWe Kaleidos microreactors, starting with a three-unit installation, and Antares Nuclear will also deploy a three-unit group of its R1 microreactor (ranging from 100-kWe to 1-MWe per unit). The companies plan to deliver and deploy their microreactors in modular packs so they can ship the reactors via standard trucks, rail, air, or barge. The facilities will be factory-built to avoid drawn-out on-site construction, and Radiant’s Kaleidos microreactor is designed to be fully transportable and plug-in ready, capable of powering up within 48 hours of arriving at a base.
Related: Solar Has Crossed a Critical Economic Tipping Point
Interestingly, the U.S. Army will be responsible for licensing the reactors rather than the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which normally licenses commercial nuclear reactors.
But this particular arrangement has drawn heavy criticism. Alan J. Kuperman, associate professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, told AP that the idea of not involving the NRC in the licensing process is “a dangerous scam on many levels.” However, Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, says the reactors are not intended to be Army-specific, but will rather be designed so that they can later transition easily to the commercial market, at which stage the NRC will be involved. Waksman says the Army will co-ordinate with the Energy Department to remove radioactive waste, with no plans for long-term storage on these installations.
While SMRs face high cost and supply-chain hurdles, they are increasingly viewed as vital for grid stability and the clean energy transition, with the U.S. government targeting a massive expansion to reach 300 GW of new nuclear power by 2050. If successful, the Janus microreactors could be among the first ever SMRs to be installed on U.S. soil.
Hordes of American Big Tech companies and hyperscalers have signed a flurry of deals involving SMRs and advanced nuclear energy to power their surging AI data center electricity demands.
Two years ago, Google signed a landmark deal with Kairos Power to purchase 500 megawatts of power from a new fleet of six to seven SMRs, with the first reactor targeted to come online by 2030. That same year, Amazon invested in SMR developer X-Energy (NASDAQ:XE) by leading a $500 million funding round and securing offtake rights for its reactors, alongside deals with utility consortium Energy Northwest in Washington State to develop advanced SMR projects. Meanwhile, Microsoft signed a massive deal with Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) in 2024 to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1 and has actively built an internal nuclear strategy team to deploy SMR solutions for its global data centers. Finally, Meta signed agreements with nuclear developers Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) and TerraPower in January 2026 to build multiple SMR and advanced reactor units.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com