US Department of Defense selects eight companies for Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program

To ensure US energy dominance, the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), with the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force, has named eight companies as eligible to demonstrate the ability to deliver compliant, safe, secure and reliable nuclear power under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program.

First announced in the northern summer of 2024, the program will allow for the design and build of fixed on-site microreactor nuclear power systems on select military installations to support global operations across land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace, says the DIU.

The companies are now eligible to receive Other Transaction (OT) awards to provide commercially available dual-use microreactor technology at various DOD installations. The eight selected companies are:

• Antares Nuclear, Inc
• BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
• General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
• Kairos Power, LLC
• Oklo Inc.
• Radiant Industries Incorporated
• Westinghouse Government Services
• X-Energy, LLC

“Projecting power abroad demands ensuring power at home and this program aims to deliver that, ensuring that our defence leaders can remain focused on lethality,” said Dr. Andrew Higier, Energy Portfolio Director at DIU. “Microreactors on installations are a critical first step in delivering energy dominance to the Force.

“Tapping into the commercial sector’s rapid advancements in this area is critical due to the significant private investment in this space over the last few years. The US and the DoD must maintain the advantage and leverage the best of breed nuclear technology for our national security.”

The ANPI project directly supports Executive Order (EO) 14156 – Declaring a National Energy Emergency and EO 14154 – Unleashing American Energy, both signed by US President Donald Trump, which recognize that external energy dependencies create the potential for disruption and mission risk from constrained grid energy systems, natural disasters, or physical and cyber attacks to infrastructure.

The DIU says that by leveraging DIU’s Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) process that results in the award of Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) to acquire commercial technology solutions, a unique process that emphasizes speed, flexibility, and execution, this program aligns with the goals of EO 14269 – Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Industrial base. The EO is focused on streamlining acquisitions to accelerate defence procurement.

To address these energy challenges and ensure mission continuity, ANPI objectives include:

• Provide mission readiness through energy resilience
• Deploy nuclear power and demonstrate its capability to provide safe, secure, reliable, and compliant electricity in support of installation readiness goals for mission critical  assets and empower the warfighter
• Field a decentralized scalable microreactor system capable of producing enough electrical power to meet 100 percent of all critical loads
• Utilize the civil regulatory pathways of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to stimulate commercial nuclear microreactor technology development and the associated supply chains in the US

The ANPI program is a collaboration between DIU, Department of the Army, and Department of the Air Force – working to design, license, build, and operate one or more microreactor nuclear power plants on military installations.