DIU seeks microreactors from industry as Army IDs bases for nuclear power

WASHINGTON — The plan to put small nuclear reactors on Army bases took two steps forward today as the Defense Innovation Unit released a solicitation for commercially-made “advanced nuclear power technologies” and the Army picked out nine sites where the tech could eventually be deployed. 

The moves amount to the first significant updates to the Army program since it was unveiled last month at the annual AUSA conference. The program is a joint effort with the Department of Energy that aims to stand up commercial nuclear microreactors at domestic military bases over the next few years. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last month that nuclear energy is the potential future for American energy independence.

“If you think about our engagement in a conflict in the Indo-Pacific, it is not going to be like a war we have had in the last 40 or 50 years,” Driscoll said at the time. “We’re going to need to be able to access power like we have never needed it before.”

The service has signed Memorandum of Agreement with the DIU for its Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) to eventually award vendors for the Janus Program. With this came an initial Area of Interest (AOI) posting from the DIU and Army today.

In the AOI, the two organizations said they are looking for commercial vendors to demonstrate microreactors that incorporate nuclear fuel that is enriched to 20 percent or less with Uranium-235 and is “legal for defense purposes.” The microreactors should also, among other qualifications, be capable of producing electrical power in the range of kilowatt-level up to 20 megawatts-electric, or up to 60 megawatt-thermal. 

After the initial solutions are presented, the DIU and Army will award companies who will then proceed to make their own “first of a kind” (FOAK) and “second of a kind” (SOAK) microreactor power plant prototypes. The organizations are looking for multiple solutions from a variety of vendors, the AOI said. Initial responses to the AOI are due on Dec. 15.

“Vendor solutions submitted under the AOI are highly encouraged to use the FOAK and SOAK approach in their proposals, and discuss the path from SOAK to Nth-of-a-kind production. Solutions may utilize the operating life of both the FOAK and SOAK MPPs [microreactor power plants] in series to reach the 30-year lifetime power generation, assuming continuity of power across the 30-year period,” the posting read.

Meanwhile, an Army news release today the service announced nine sites for “initial deployment” for the microreactors: 

Fort Benning, Ga. Fort Bragg. N.C. Fort Campbell. Ky. Fort Drum. N.Y Fort Hood, TexasFort Wainwright, Alaska Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Tenn. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Redstone Arsenal, Ala. 

“While the final number and location for these microreactors on Army installations will be determined as part of the acquisition process, the Army is committed to maximizing the number of sites based on technical feasibility, site suitability, and available resources,” the release noted. 

Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, told reporters last month that the Army will not force a nuclear reactor on a community that is against having one. 

“There’s gonna be a long period of local engagement and local discussion. … I think as long as we have that discussion, as long as we have a clear face to the project, and we’re clearly engaging with local communities, then I think there’s going to be a lot of appetite for it,” he said at the time. “Now, if the local communities decide they don’t want it, then we won’t go there. We’re not here to impose on any local communities.”