Pentagon awards $39.7million in contracts to three companies that will compete to build mobile nuclear reactors
- Pentagon awards contracts to three firms that will build reactor prototype
- Companies will compete in designing small, mobile nuclear reactors
- BWX Technologies, Westinghouse Government Services and X-energy were picked to take part in ‘Project Pele,’ a $39.7million investment
The Pentagon on Monday awarded contracts to three companies that will be tasked with building small, mobile nuclear reactors that will generate power for American troops stationed at home and abroad.
The Department of Defense picked three firms – BWX Technologies of Virginia; Westinghouse Government Services of Washington, DC; and X-energy of Maryland – to design a small nuclear microreactor that can be forward deployed with US forces abroad.
The three companies will compete in an engineering design competition where the prototypes will be unveiled in two years, the Pentagon announced.
BWX Technologies will be paid $13.5million; Westinghouse Government Services will receive $11.9million; and X-energy will get $14.3million – all as part of a combined $39.7million investment in ‘Project Pele.’
The Pentagon announced that it has awarded contracts to three companies that will compete to build a prototype mobile nuclear reactor
The nuclear reactor is small enough to be fitted on a truck and can deliver power to far-off, remote places where American troops are stationed
The Pentagon wants to pick a prototype that can generate in the 1-5megawatt range.
If the technology is perfected, it would enable the Pentagon to deliver energy to soldiers in remote locations without having to bear the burden of using costly infrastructure.
The project ‘involves the development of a safe, mobile and advanced nuclear microreactor to support a variety of Department of Defense missions such as generating power for remote operating bases,’ said Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Robert Carver.
‘After a two-year design-maturation period, one of the companies funded to begin design work may be selected to build and demonstrate a prototype.’
Scientists warn that there are safety risks inherent in bringing nuclear fuel into battlefield conditions. The above image shows a nuclear plant
‘The Pele Program’s uniqueness lies in the reactor’s mobility and safety,’ said Dr. Jeff Waksman, Project Pele program manager.
‘We will leverage our industry partners to develop a system that can be safely and rapidly moved by road, rail, sea or air and for quick set up and shut down, with a design which is inherently safe.’
The deployment of small, mobile nuclear reactors would ‘enable [military] units to carry a nearly endless clean power supply, enabling expansion and sustainment of operations for extended periods of time anywhere on the planet.’
Project Pele is being managed under the auspices of the Strategic Capabilities Office.
‘The United States risks ceding nuclear energy technology leadership to Russia and China,’ said SCO Director Jay Dryer.
‘By retaking technological leadership, the United States will be able to supply the most innovative advanced nuclear energy technologies.’
One advantage of using microreactors is that military bases that are hooked up to the civilian energy grid could continue to generate power if the grid is compromised.
But others say that the mobile reactors could pose a safety risk especially if radioactive fuel is brought into battlefield conditions.
‘Fielding these reactors without commanders fully understanding the radiological consequences and developing robust response plans to cope with the aftermath could prove to be a disastrous miscalculation,’ Edwin Lyman, the head of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Defense News.