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Army Selects Five Firms for $2.2 Billion Microreactor Program

The awards pair vendors with specific bases under milestone-driven Other Transaction Authority contracts to speed fielding, leverage private capital, pursue regulatory alignment, and hit an operational target of Sept. 30, 2028.

FILE - A sign at Fort Bragg, N.C., is seen, Jan. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)
A conceptual rendering depicts a BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor (BANR) power plant. The U.S. Army selected a 20-MWe configuration of the 75-MWth, nitrogen-cooled, tri-structural isotropic (TRISO)-fueled high-temperature gas reactor for deployment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, under the Janus Program. BWXT is targeting groundbreaking in late 2028 and reactor operation in the early 2030s. Courtesy: BWXT
FILE - U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll speaks at the America 250 celebration at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker, File)

Overview

  • The Army announced the Janus awards on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, naming Antares, BWXT, General Atomics, Radiant and Westinghouse as the five vendors chosen to develop, build and operate prototype microreactors at Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Hood, Fort Benning and Fort Drum.
  • The program provides up to $2.2 billion in milestone-based Other Transaction Authority funding to be paid from fiscal 2027–2031, with companies paid only after meeting technical milestones and retaining contractor ownership and operation of the reactors.
  • Radiant publicly disclosed it could receive up to $750 million to deploy 15 of its Kaleidos 1-MW units, and Army officials say the federal dollars are intended to catalyze far larger private investment to scale manufacturing and deployment.
  • Delivery risks include limited domestic HALEU supply, unsettled DOE waste-removal arrangements, differences between Army licensing and later NRC commercial licensing, and manufacturing scale-up that could prevent some vendors from meeting the aggressive Sept. 30, 2028 target.
  • Janus builds on earlier DoD work such as Project Pele and White House directives to accelerate advanced reactors, and the Army says the effort aims to give bases resilient on-site power for critical systems while helping vendors move advanced designs toward broader commercial use.