Salem reported in mid-February 2026 that a SMR nuclear reactor was airlifted from March AFB, Calif.. to Hill AFB, Utah, recently, according to a release on the Pentagon’s website. This is the first time a SMR nuclear reactor has been airlifted for transport.
The Department of Defense (DOD) broke ground on the Project Pele transportable microreactor project
at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The demonstration project is being led by DOD’s Strategic
Capabilities Office and could be one of the first advanced reactors to operate in the United States as early as 2026.
Three C-17 transport planes flew individual components of a Valar Atomics 250 nuclear reactor, which was unfueled. The Ward 250 is five megawatts and could “theoretically power about 5,000 homes,” the Pentagon said. Following the reactor transport, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
U.S. Office Nuclear Energy reported in late May 2026 that Project Pele is a first-of-its-kind mobile microreactor prototype designed to provide resilient power for military operations. The project is led by DoW’s Strategic Capabilities Office in partnership with BWXT, DOE, and INL. The delivery of advanced nuclear fuel to INL in November 2025 marked a major milestone for Project Pele.
The Janus program was established to deliver secure, resilient, and reliable energy to support national defense installations and critical missions. In November 2025, the Army identified nine installations as potential locations to demonstrate microreactors and is actively reviewing reactor designs for these installations. The Eielson Air Force Base effort is focused on a fixed-site microreactor (up to 5 megawatts) for resilient remote electricity production in the late 2020s, while the ANPI program aims to build fixed on-site microreactor nuclear power systems on select military installations to support global operations across land, air, sea, and space.
Federal Lands for Nuclear Energy and AI
In September and October 2025, DOE issued four Requests for Applications (RFAs) to seek proposals from U.S. companies to build and power AI data centers with nuclear or other energy generation at INL, Oak Ridge Reservation, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and the Savannah River Site. The RFAs received strong proposals that will promote American leadership in AI and leverage federal land assets to quickly deploy cutting-edge data centers and energy generation projects.
Nuclear Energy in Space
In December 2025, President Trump signed another executive order, Ensuring American Space Superiority, establishing a U.S. space policy that calls on the development of multiple technologies — including space nuclear energy — to secure the nation’s vital economic and security interests, unleash commercial development, and lay the foundation for a new space age.
DOE is working with NASA to support the EO direction to enable near-term use of space nuclear power by deploying nuclear reactors on the Moon and in orbit, including a lunar surface reactor ready for launch by 2030. In April 2026, DOE and Idaho National Laboratory also issued a request for information to identify and address gaps in the U.S. industrial base for space reactors.
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
