U.S. Officials Announce Locations For New Nuclear Microreactors
By Sentry
The United States Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) selected its initial bases as potential locations for power generation using nuclear microreactors. The service and the DIU designated Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, and Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, as “preferred locations” for the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program, according to a U.S. Air Force news release.
Space Delta 4, headquartered at Buckley, provides global missile warnings for homeland defense. The 341st Missile Wing, based at Malmstrom, is one of three U.S. Air Force installations that operate, maintain and secure Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. The selection of these bases provides an important first step in ensuring that U.S. forces can execute missions critical to national defense without interruption.
“By advancing the use of next-generation nuclear energy, the [U.S. Air Force] is strengthening the energy security of our power-projection platforms and contributing to long-term national energy leadership,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Nancy Balkus said in the news release. “This initiative represents a critical step in ensuring the department remains the world’s premier Air Force and Space Force.”
A microreactor can operate as part of an electrical grid, independently from a grid or as part of a microgrid to generate up to 20 megawatts of thermal energy to generate electricity, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Most microreactors are portable, and semitrucks can transport them, according to the INL.
The U.S. Air Force and DIU conduct the ANPI program. Its goal is to power carefully selected bases with microreactors by 2030. The ANPI program chose Buckley and Malmstrom as reactor locations because of their utility infrastructure, land availability and critical mission requirements, the news release said. The DIU authorized eight companies in April 2025 to design, build, license and operate microreactors at installations for both services. The ANPI program will pair bases with microreactor technology that fits each installation’s energy needs, according to the news release. (A microreactor pilot program at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, is a stand-alone effort.) In a similar effort, the U.S. Army announced in November 2025 that it would put the first of a planned nine microreactors on its bases by 2027 as part of its DIU-supported Janus Program, according to an April 2026 Defense One report.
The military’s demand for energy security drives the microreactor programs — especially the need to generate power on a small scale in remote locations and at deployed military installations, and in locations recovering from natural disasters, according to the U.S. Air Force. “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,” Dr. Andrew Higier, energy portfolio director at DIU, said in April 2025 news release. “Microreactors on installations are a critical first step in delivering energy dominance to the [military].”
- This article was published by Sentry
