Quietly in Lynchburg, Virginia, earlier this year, the Trump administration took a small step toward starting a nuclear renaissance that could bring security and abundance to the United States for generations. This week, the Army announced it would scale up those efforts, ensuring energy resilience at military facilities worldwide while also revitalizing America’s commercial nuclear industry.
A private firm, BWXT Advanced Technologies, began work in July on a prototype mobile microreactor, the first to be built and operated in the U.S. The microreactor is the centerpiece of Project Pele, a Department of War Strategic Capabilities Office initiative, and is scheduled to be delivered to Idaho National Laboratory by 2026. It is expected to begin producing electricity by 2028.
The Army is already satisfied with the progress of Project Pele and announced Tuesday that it would be expanded into Project Janus, a bolder plan to leverage what has been learned from Project Pele. It will become a program that can provide clean, safe, reliable nuclear microreactor energy to military bases around the world.
MAKING HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORDABLE AGAIN
“If you look at where modern warfare is going, in terms of drones and energy weapons, there is an increasing amount of electricity and energy that is being used at the same time,” said Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. He was speaking at the Annual Meeting & Exposition of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, D.C.
“It is an immense challenge in terms of providing 24/7 power,” he went on. “Military bases right now are powered entirely by fossil fuels. It is not possible with current technology to provide 24/7 power with solar, wind, and batteries. So the only solution to the tyranny of fuel that exists now is nuclear power.”
The genius of Pele and Janus is how the Department of War and the Department of Energy are bypassing the nation’s greatest obstacle to a revived nuclear industry, which is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. All the microreactors built through Project Janus will be owned and operated by private commercial entities, but because DOW will have exclusive possession of the final products, all permitting and waste management will be subject to DOW and DOE regulations, not costly and wasteful NRC oversight.
“The U.S. Army is leading the way in fielding innovative and disruptive technology,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said. “We are shredding red tape and incubating next-generation capabilities in a variety of critical sectors, including nuclear power.”
The federal government, particularly the Pentagon, has long been the initial customer for nascent industries that later became civilian commercial powerhouses. Semiconductors, satellites, and even the internet all started as government projects. The Trump administration rightly believes it can do for nuclear energy what past administrations have done for other sectors.
TRUMP’S HISTORIC VINDICATION IN ISRAEL
“Since the Manhattan Project, the Department of Energy and the Department of War have forged one of the defining partnerships in American history—advancing the science, engineering, and industrial capability that power our national security,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “What began as a wartime effort became the backbone of America’s peacetime strength. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re extending that legacy through initiatives like the Janus Program, accelerating next-generation reactor deployment and strengthening the nuclear foundations of American energy and defense.”
America’s nuclear revival is fueled by creative governance, by an administration willing to rethink how innovation is regulated, not just how it’s funded. Through Project Janus, the Trump administration has found a way to sidestep the bureaucratic paralysis that has smothered nuclear progress for decades, proving that safety and speed need not be enemies. By pairing private industry’s ingenuity with federal flexibility, Trump is rekindling the nation’s nuclear potential. If Pele was the prototype, Janus is the blueprint for American renewal through energy independence.