Pentagon Picks Indiana Base to Host Nuclear Microreactor

"Time had priority for us….looking at site selection," Michael Dodd, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary of defense for critical technologies, told reporters on Sept. 9, 2026, explaining why the department picked Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indiana to host a next‑generation nuclear microreactor.

Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center and the 2028 deadline

The Department of Defense announced the site selection as part of an effort to meet an executive order that sets a hard deadline: deploy the first military reactor "no later than September 30, 2028." Crane, a Navy research and warfare center in Indiana, was chosen primarily because Pentagon officials judged it the place most likely to enable that timetable. Dodd repeated that the selection process prioritized schedule over other potential site attributes, saying the decision was less about connecting the reactor to specific mission loadouts — such as artificial‑intelligence data centers or directed‑energy systems — than about where the department could realistically meet the executive‑order deadline.

How political and local cooperation factored into the choice

Officials said local and state cooperation mattered. Dodd described Indiana’s state government and congressional delegation as “tremendous,” noting the delegation includes Gov. Mike Braun, both U.S. senators, and all seven House members, all Republicans. He said the department needed partners “that was going to lean forward and work with us very collaboratively” in order to hit the aggressive timeline.

JANUS, prototype funding, and unresolved technical questions

The Army’s JANUS program is leading the military’s effort to field nuclear power, and officials told reporters it is "well underway" at identifying systems and performers that meet program requirements. In August, JANUS awarded five companies a total of $2.2 billion to build prototypes. But those awards do not close the technical or regulatory gaps, Army official Jeff Waksman warned: significant unknowns remain around regulatory issues and technical questions about safety, security and nuclear waste. Dodd reiterated that the department has not yet released a Commercial Solutions Opening — a streamlined solicitation process — nor begun source selection or down‑selection of specific reactor designs. "Our announcement today…is really first and foremost that we’re going to meet the president’s executive order [deadline]," he said, adding that "the performers therein have not yet identified their systems, all the redundancies and safety and security that will be part and parcel for how we select and then ultimately deploy those systems."

Pentagon CTO Emil Michael on a "renaissance" and rising power needs

Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael framed the effort as part of a broader shift in nuclear energy. He called the program the leading edge of “a renaissance in nuclear technology” and said it will accompany “an explosion in the abundance of energy.” Michael said previous Pentagon research and development work provides visibility into where companies stand in delivering small modular reactors (SMRs). "We think we’re going to get there by ’28," he told reporters. Michael also argued that rising demand for electrical power — driven in part by artificial intelligence and “giant data centers” — is a compelling operational factor. He coined the term "combat compute commands" for those facilities, underlining their growing importance to day‑to‑day Defense Department operations. At the same time, he said the department does not plan to place new microreactors on forward bases "in range of enemy strikes," noting that "We have a hundred other means for energy that’s efficient and clean before you get to active battle zones."

What this means for JANUS teams, regulators, and base operators

- JANUS program teams and the five prototype companies: They must translate awarded funds into demonstrable designs while resolving safety, security and waste‑management questions that officials flagged as unresolved. Dodd and Waksman made clear that performers have yet to identify systems and full redundancy plans required for eventual selection and deployment. - Regulators and permitting authorities: Their decisions will be decisive. Emil Michael and other officials acknowledged regulatory approval is difficult in the U.S., and Waksman specifically named regulatory issues among the key unknowns that could affect delivery timelines. - Installation and infrastructure planners at Crane and other bases: The selection signals rapid movement from policy toward potential construction and integration planning; yet the department has not yet started formal procurements or down‑selections, and site selection here was driven more by schedule than by any announced plan to pair the reactor with a specific mission demand. Conclusion Crane’s selection reflects a Pentagon calculus where calendar beats current technical fit: choosing a host that can move quickly toward an administrative and physical build to satisfy an executive‑order deadline. That choice clears one political and logistical hurdle but leaves the central technical and regulatory questions explicitly unresolved. The next concrete milestones — a Commercial Solutions Opening, source selection, and the specification of systems, redundancies and waste plans — will determine whether the program can convert schedule urgency into safe, certified deployments by September 30, 2028. Original Breaking Defense story