“Unlike in prior conflicts, we now know that our domestic electric grid is potentially at risk in a conflict. We also know that we will not necessarily be able to move fossil fuels easily wherever we need them to go,” Jeff Waksman, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, told reporters as the Army announced five vendors selected to advance nuclear microreactor prototypes.
Army Janus awards and selected bases
The Army has divided up to $2.2 billion among five companies to advance microreactor prototypes under the Janus program, with the explicit goal of fielding more than 20 microreactors to installations and keeping them contractor owned and operated. The five companies and their initial, named host installations are:
- Antares — Fort Bragg, N.C.
- BWXT — Fort Campbell, Ky.
- General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems — Fort Hood, Texas
- Radiant — Fort Benning, Ga.
- Westinghouse — Fort Drum, N.Y.
Waksman cautioned that the list could be reduced further as each company continues development, testing and private fundraising.
Funding, contract mechanics, and schedule
The Army said the $2.2 billion will be spent between fiscal 2027 and 2031 under unique Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements. Those funds are intended to help cover prototype design and construction as well as the first year of operations.
Radiant disclosed separately that it could receive up to $750 million under Janus to develop and deploy 15 of its Kaleidos microreactors. The Army did not publish per-company award amounts for the remainder of the pool.
Waksman emphasized that government money is expected to be only a fraction of the total capital required. “These companies are still working to raise money off of this announcement. … We are expecting that the majority of the money coming into these reactor programs will be private capital, not government,” he said.
Each OTA agreement contains a unique set of contractual milestones tied to payment and program continuation. “These contractual milestones are very flexible,” Waksman said. “So if a company is not performing, if they are just disappointing, not delivering what we’re expecting, we can pull future milestones. There are no termination fees.”
The program’s near-term objective is clear: have at least one microreactor operating on an Army installation by the end of September 2028. Waksman was candid about the odds: “We don’t expect all five of these companies are going to turn on a reactor in 2028. In fact, they definitely will not,” he said, but he added that the Army believes it “has a very practical pathway to delivering at least one of these reactors on/by September 30, 2028.”
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See what we buildReactor designs, fuel types, and fabrication partners
Each vendor is pursuing its own technical approach, spanning footprint, movability and fuel form. Radiant’s Chief Nuclear Officer Rita Baranwal told Breaking Defense that Radiant’s design uses fuel made to its specifications and that the Department of Energy provided Radiant with 19.75 percent high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Radiant’s fuel fabricator, Standard Nuclear, used that HALEU “feedstock” to produce Tristructural Isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles for the reactor’s fuel compacts.
Antares is also using 19.75 percent HALEU and has BWXT fabricating its TRISO fuel particles, a company official told Breaking Defense. General Atomics’s Tactical Energy System, by contrast, is fueled by uranium zirconium hydride.
Policy origins and interim energy choices
The Army’s accelerated push follows executive action in May 2025. In May 2025, President Donald Trump signed executive orders on nuclear energy that tapped the Army to lead a microreactor effort and required a reactor operating on a domestic base by the end of September 2028. Over the subsequent year the Army and the Defense Innovation Unit identified eligible commercial vendors and nine initial candidate sites; those candidate sites beyond the five announced today included Fort Wainwright, Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Redstone Arsenal.
The microreactor program is unfolding alongside a reassessment of other installation energy plans. The Army recently abandoned a 2024 memorandum of understanding with the Tennessee Valley Authority for green energy at Redstone Arsenal and Fort Campbell and is evaluating alternative options, including increased use of gas. “The most likely short-term solution is going to be gas. That’s just the reality situation,” Waksman told reporters, noting concerns around local gas supply, pipeline access and the economics that will need to be worked out with TVA.
What this means for the Army, the five vendors, and the Department of Energy and fabricators
- The Army: must manage a compressed schedule tied to the Sept. 30, 2028 objective, enforce milestone-driven OT agreements, and reconcile microreactor plans with interim energy choices such as gas where site-level constraints persist.
- The five vendors (Antares, BWXT, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, Radiant, Westinghouse): need to complete design and testing, secure majority private capital, and meet contractual milestones to retain funding and program standing; failure to meet milestones can halt future payments without termination fees.
- The Department of Energy and fuel fabricators (Standard Nuclear, BWXT as a fabricator partner): will play a material role supplying HALEU feedstock and fabricating TRISO or other fuels that different designs require, as demonstrated by DOE’s provision of 19.75 percent HALEU to Radiant.
The Army has set a firm, near-term metric — at least one microreactor by Sept. 30, 2028 — but has also structured the program so that each vendor must prove progress to continue receiving funds. The combination of a limited federal pot, an expectation of private capital, flexible milestone-based OT agreements and varied technical approaches leaves the path forward clear but narrow: meet the milestones, secure money off the announcement, and deliver a working prototype on schedule. Which companies will advance, and how many reactors will be built and operated by 2031, are questions the program’s milestones and the vendors’ fundraising will answer.
