DIU selects 8 ‘eligible’ companies for nuclear microreactors that could power US bases

A rendering of the MARVEL microreactor planned for testing at Idaho National Laboratory. (Department of Energy)

WASHINGTON — A budding effort between the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Air Force and Army to shore up homeland installations with nuclear energy powered by microreactors is moving forward after the DoD determined eight vendors are now qualified to proceed with demonstrating the technology.

Under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) initiative, the DIU team aims to field nuclear microreactors that can support operations across domains by supplementing energy sources at DoD installations, whose power is typically drawn from commercial grids.

The Department of Energy describes microreactors as providing 1-20 megawatts of power, while being a transportable size — think of something that could fit within a shipping container. The ANPI effort aims to build more resilient energy grids for military bases with “fixed on-site microreactor nuclear power systems.” Among other goals, the program intends to “field a decentralized scalable microreactor system” that can “meet 100 percent of all critical loads” and invigorate the commercial market for nuclear microreactor technology, according to the DIU release.

According to an April 10 announcement, eight different awardees have now been deemed eligible to offer designs under the ANPI program. Those companies are:

• Antares Nuclear, Inc
• BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
• General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
• Kairos Power, LLC
• Oklo Inc.
• Radiant Industries Incorporated
• Westinghouse Government Services
• X-Energy, LLC

The firms are now each “eligible” to receive contracts for “commercially available dual use microreactor technology” for the ANPI program, and can potentially work with DoD to “design, license, build, and operate one or more microreactor nuclear power plants on military installations,” the DIU release says. It’s not clear what the timeline for fielding those reactors may be, and a DIU spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for more information. 

“Projecting power abroad demands ensuring power at home and this program aims to deliver that, ensuring that our defense leaders can remain focused on lethality,” Andrew Higier, DIU’s energy portfolio director, said in the release. “Microreactors on installations are a critical first step in delivering energy dominance to the Force. Tapping into the commercial sector’s rapid advancements in this area is critical due to the significant private investment in this space over the last few years. The U.S. and the DoD must maintain the advantage and leverage the best of breed nuclear technology for our national security.”

The program could enhance national security by strengthening DoD’s energy sources, supporters of the effort have said, though critics have argued that ANPI’s benefits are illusory, and come with too much cost and risk.