Overview
- The Army’s Janus Program has down-selected Antares, BWXT, General Atomics, Radiant and Westinghouse and paired each with a specific installation: Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Hood, Fort Benning and Fort Drum respectively.
- The department committed up to $2.2 billion in milestone-based payments across fiscal years 2027–2031 while keeping the reactors contractor-owned and operated and requiring vendors to meet technical milestones before payments.
- The program retains a target of putting the first Army-regulated reactor into operation by September 2028 and is continuing technical reviews with national labs and negotiating with the Department of Energy to remove radioactive waste so sites do not store waste long term.
- Researchers and public-interest critics say the plan risks subsidizing uneconomic firms and sidestepping the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing, and some contract figures reported in single-source coverage—such as Radiant’s reported $750 million—have not been independently confirmed.
- Janus builds on prior Defense and DOE efforts like Project Pele by using the military as an early customer to prove designs, with the Army projecting the program could lead to more than 20 microreactors across Department of Defense installations and wider commercial adoption.