FORT BENNING, Ga. — The U.S. Army announced it had selected five nuclear energy vendors and five initial military installations to host contractor-owned nuclear microreactors under the new Janus Program.
Fort Benning in Georgia is among the first five bases to be included in the program.
In partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, the Army is awarding up to $2.2 billion in government funding alongside private sector investment to build and operate the reactors.
According to the U.S. Army, the Janus Program aims to provide uninterrupted baseload power directly to military bases, reducing reliance on public commercial power grids.
With combined government and private investment, officials expect more than 20 microreactors to eventually be constructed across Department of War installations.
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The initial selection paired Radiant Industries, Inc. to Fort Benning in Georgia for the development.
Maj. Gen. Colin P. Tuley, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, noted the installation’s preparation for the initiative.
“The Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning serve as an innovation center of gravity for the Army,” Tuley said. “Our Garrison team is ready to expand its resilient, secure and reliable energy footprint through the Janus Program.”
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Dan Driscoll, secretary of the Army, stressed the strategic necessity of base energy independence.
“Since launching the Janus Program, our mandate from President Trump and Secretary Hegseth has been clear: secure the power our warfighters need to train, deploy and win,” Driscoll said. “Awarding these contracts accelerates our ability to deliver safe, reliable baseload power directly to our installations. We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids.”
Under the program’s investment framework, $2.2 billion in federal funding will be distributed across fiscal years 2027 through 2031 using a milestone-based payment structure.
Vendors will receive government disbursements only after achieving specified technical objectives, alongside direct capital contributions from the vendors themselves.
Owen West, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, said the operational demand for rapid energy deployment was key.
“We need more power. We need it delivered faster and cheaper and we need it to be more reliable,” West said. “With Janus, DIU is assisting the Army’s micro reactor build - speeding military energy production to protect the nation.”
To select the five corporate partners, the Army gathered operational and technical proposals through an Area of Interest issued by the Defense Innovation Unit.
A decision board consisting of experts from the Department of Energy, national laboratories and military service representatives evaluated technical risks, financial stability, management capabilities and environmental factors such as seismic and hydrological conditions. Ted Garrish, assistant secretary of nuclear energy, highlighted the interagency cooperation behind the initiative.
“When DOE created an authorization pathway for the demonstration of advanced reactor designs, we quickly began to realize how valuable these technologies could be for fortifying our national defense infrastructure,” Garrish said. “We are honored to work in lockstep with the Army to leverage nuclear energy innovation in support of our country’s military operations at home and abroad.”
Jason Craft, Janus Program manager, described the selection as a step toward establishing long-term energy capabilities.
“The Army is leading the nation in its return to nuclear preeminence via the Janus program,” Craft said. “Our selected industry awardees represent the most viable technologies to achieve this capability, setting conditions for both installation energy resilience and operational energy solutions.”
Implementation will also require coordination with local serving utilities and privatized utility providers. Emil Michael, the War Department’s chief technology officer, voiced support for alignment with federal executive directives.
“The Army’s Janus Program has my full support,” Michael said. “The War Department is acting swiftly to implement President Trump’s Executive Order, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, to deploy a nuclear reactor on a military installation by September 2028. We are unleashing America’s domestic nuclear industrial base to ensure a more resilient and secure energy supply for the Joint Force.”
The Army said in the announcement that it is driving toward a target date of September 2028 for the operation of its first military-regulated reactor on an installation, in accordance with Executive Order 14299.
Officials plan to announce additional Army and service branch sites as vendor siting expands across the Department of War.
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