HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah – In an unprecedented move, the Pentagon, alongside the Department of Energy, successfully transported a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah by air. This operation signals the United States’ burgeoning capability to swiftly mobilize nuclear power for both military and civilian purposes.
The journey, spanning nearly 700 miles, took place last weekend and involved the transportation of a 5-megawatt microreactor, notably without any nuclear fuel. This initiative underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to advancing nuclear energy as a solution to the rising demands of power-intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence and data centers, as well as for military applications.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, together with Undersecretary of Defense Michael Duffey, accompanied the reactor on the C-17 military aircraft during its February 15th flight. They celebrated this mission as a significant milestone, illustrating the U.S. government’s efforts to expedite commercial licensing processes for microreactors. This endeavor is part of a larger strategy by the Trump administration to transform the national energy framework.
President Donald Trump has consistently championed nuclear power, recognizing it as a carbon-free and dependable source of electricity. This stance comes despite his general opposition to renewable energy and his preference for coal and other fossil fuels.
Despite these developments, there is skepticism in some quarters. Critics caution that nuclear energy carries inherent risks, and they question the safety, feasibility, and economic viability of microreactors. They argue that these reactors have yet to demonstrate they can adequately meet energy demands at a reasonable cost.
Skeptics warn that nuclear energy poses risks and say microreactors may not be safe or feasible and have not proved they can meet demand for a reasonable price.
Wright brushed those concerns aside as he touted progress on Trump’s push for a quick escalation of nuclear power. Trump signed a series of executive orders last year that allow Wright to approve some advanced reactor designs and projects, taking authority away from the independent safety agency that has regulated the U.S. nuclear industry for five decades.
“Today is history. A multi-megawatt, next-generation nuclear power plant is loaded in the C-17 behind us,” Wright said before the two-hour flight from March Air Reserve Base in California to Hill Air Force base in Utah.
The minivan-sized reactor transported by the military is one of at least three that will reach “criticality” — when a nuclear reaction can sustain an ongoing series of reactions — by July 4, as Trump has promised, Wright said.
“That’s speed, that’s innovation, that’s the start of a nuclear renaissance,” he said.
Microreactors would be for civilian and military use
Currently, there are 94 operable nuclear reactors in the U.S. that generate about 19% of the country’s electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s down from 104 reactors in 2013 and includes two new commercial reactors in Georgia that were the nation’s first large reactors built from scratch in a generation.
Recognizing delays inherent to deployment of new, full-scale reactors, the industry and government have focused in recent years on more efficient designs, including a small modular reactor proposed by the nation’s largest public power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Microreactors, designed to be portable, can take that a step further and “accelerate the delivery of resilient power to where it’s needed,” Duffey said. Eventually, the mobile reactors could provide energy security on a military base without the civilian grid, he and other officials said.
The demonstration flight “gets us closer to deploy nuclear power when and where it is needed to give our nation’s warfighters the tools to win in battle,” Duffey said.
The reactor transported to Utah will be able to generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, said Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Valar Atomics, the California startup that produced the reactor. The company hopes to start selling power on a test basis next year and become fully commercial in 2028.
Some safety concerns haven’t been addressed, experts say
Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the transport flight — which included a throng of reporters, photographers and TV news crews — was little more than “a dog-and-pony show” that merely demonstrated the Pentagon’s ability to ship a piece of heavy equipment.
The flight “doesn’t answer any questions about whether the project is feasible, economic, workable or safe — for the military and the public,” Lyman said in an interview.
The Trump administration “hasn’t made the safety case” for how microreactors, once loaded with nuclear fuel, can be transported securely to data centers or military bases, Lyman said.
Officials also have not resolved how nuclear waste will be disposed, although Wright said the Energy Department is in talks with Utah and other states to host sites that could reprocess fuel or handle permanent disposal.
The microreactor flown to Utah will be sent to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab for testing and evaluation, Wright said. Fuel will be provided by the Nevada National Security site, Taylor said.
“The answer to energy is always more,” Wright said. After four years of restrictions on more polluting forms of energy under the Biden administration, he said, “now we’re trying to set everything free. And nuclear will be flying soon.”
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