The United States Department of the Air Force announced that Eielson Air Force Base (AFB) will start producing 1-5 mW micro-reactor nuclear power by 2027. Executive Order 13972 promoted small nuclear reactors for use in national defense and space exploration. Eielson AFB is southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. This isn’t the first time that Alaska has hosted a nuclear reactor. As part of the Army’s Nuclear Power Program in the mid 1950’s, the Army developed a number of small reactors to test nuclear concepts and feasibility.
The United States Government is approaching nuclear micro reactors on two fronts. Project Pele is reviewing mobile micro-reactor technology with the Defense Logistics Agency. That reactor will be based at Idaho National Laboratory. Eielson AFB will host the stationary micro reactor technology pilot through the Department of the Air Force. The latter project will post updates at https://www.safie.hq.af.mil/installationenergy/currentinitiatives/.
Here is the timing for the 2027 reactor go-live.
• Sep 2020: Request for Information (RFI) released
• Dec 2020: RFI responses received
• Jul 2021: Data gathering and environmental baselining site visit
• Oct 2021: Public Announcement of Eielson as chosen micro-reactor pilot location
• Fall 2021: Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) and compile environmental data
• Dec 2021: RFP reviews
• Feb 2022: Release RFP
• Late 2022: Select vendor and release Notice of Intent to Award (NOITA)
• 2022-2023: Begin permitting and licensing
• 2024: Execute contract
• 2025: Begin construction and pilot phase
• 2026: Pre-operational testing
• 2027: End pilot phase, enter commercial operation
I saved a number of articles on Neeva Spaces for you to review. These links provide access to the Executive Order and other *.GOV sources. https://neeva.com/spaces/O8_mvY8skQ6ZZ8K-9kOAvfkBsb2tDYFFZX3dCS7v.
