“The future of air and space dominance is powered by resilient energy,” Michael Borders, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations and Environment, said in the Department of the Air Force press release announcing new microreactor pairings.
Who was selected and where the reactors would go
A government team led by the Defense Innovation Unit and the Department of the Air Force has chosen three companies to potentially design and operate nuclear microreactors at specific Department of the Air Force installations. The selected firms are Antares Nuclear, Inc.; Radiant Industries, Inc.; and Westinghouse Government Services. Each company has been paired with a base: Antares with Joint Base San Antonio in Texas; Radiant with Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado; and Westinghouse with Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. The Air Force press release describes these pairings as the next step in the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program.
The selection process and vendor pool
Just over a year ago, eight competitors were deemed eligible for ANPI. The Army ran a parallel microreactor project and was part of that larger vendor pool. From that original pool, the Department of the Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit narrowed the field to the three firms now moving forward to design work for the named installations.
Timeline and required environmental work
The ANPI program is aiming to have “at least one” nuclear microreactor operating on a Department of the Air Force base by 2030, or sooner if possible, according to the release. Selected companies, working in conjunction with the government, must now conduct an environmental assessment as part of the next phase. The environmental assessment is the stated immediate procedural step before any installation-level work proceeds.
Program context: a pilot at Eielson and intended purpose
The Air Force is separately running a pilot program to demonstrate nuclear microreactor technology at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The service announced last year that it intended to partner with Oklo Inc. for that pilot. In the ANPI announcement, Department of the Air Force leadership framed the program as a resilience measure: integrating advanced nuclear technology to ensure critical national security missions are not put at risk by power outages.
Debate: supporters' security argument and critics' concerns
Supporters of ANPI have argued the program could enhance national security by strengthening the Department of Defense’s energy sources. In the press release, Michael Borders characterized the effort as guaranteeing that “our most critical national security missions will never be held at risk by a power outage.” Critics, the release notes, counter that the program’s benefits are illusory and that it carries too much cost and risk. The release does not enumerate specific cost estimates or technical objections; it records only the existence of that debate.
What this means for Joint Base San Antonio, Buckley Space Force Base, and Malmstrom Air Force Base
- Joint Base San Antonio (Texas): The base is now the Air Force’s named partner with Antares Nuclear, Inc. for potential design and operation work, and will be part of the environmental assessment process before any construction or operation proceeds.
- Buckley Space Force Base (Colorado): Buckley has been paired with Radiant Industries, Inc.; the base community will similarly see design work and an environmental assessment if the program advances at the installation.
- Malmstrom Air Force Base (Montana): Malmstrom has been paired with Westinghouse Government Services. The press release specifically notes that Malmstrom hosts a nuclear missile fleet, an operational context the Department invoked when discussing the resilience rationale for ANPI.
The Department of the Air Force’s announcement sets a clear next step—a series of environmental assessments tied to the design work—but leaves a number of operational and budgetary details to be resolved. The program’s stated ambition is to field at least one microreactor by 2030, while concurrently running a demonstration pilot at Eielson with Oklo Inc. Whether the three selected pairings proceed to construction and operation will depend on those assessments and subsequent decisions by the Air Force and its partners.
Original reporting: Department of Air Force picks bidders for nuclear microreactors, assigns locations — Breaking Defense, April 2026
