The United States Army said Wednesday that it will award $2.2 billion (€1.7 billion) in contracts to five companies to build and operate small nuclear reactors on military bases. The program set a goal of deploying the first such reactor by the end of September 2028.
The Army selected the following companies to work at its bases:
Antares Nuclear at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
BWXT Advanced Technologies at Fort Campbell, Kentucky
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems at Fort Hood, Texas
Radiant Industries, Fort Benning, Georgia
Westinghouse Government Services at Fort Drum, New York
That’s the way to do it. Five different companies, no common parts, different engineering teams, varied specs, no answer on what happens to nuclear waste, not under the control of the Nuclear Energy Commission, etc etc.
Sounds like a great plan. I hope they’re sited near you, not me.
No, but Finland’s approach could certainly be copied elsewhere. Sweden, for instance, is developing a very similar plan. Finland’s storage technology was actually first developed in Sweden.
Small nuclear reactors could be one of the best ways to power data centers. Data centers require lots of power. Most comes from fossil fuels and produces carbon dioxide.
But looks like the microreactors are developmental and not likely to be commercial for 5 years or so. Too slow for this round of data centers. But if AI prospers could be ready for next generation data centers.