The Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) said Wednesday it picked Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana as potential locations for nuclear microreactors.
The decision comes under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program (ANPI), a partnership between the Air Force and DIU to deploy “advanced, contractor-owned and operated nuclear microreactors” on Air Force installations, specifically to partner with commercial reactor companies and have them “site, license, construct, operate and decommission” microreactors.
Malmstrom Air Force Base is also one of three bases that siloes Boeing’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the land-based leg of the nation’s nuclear triad. Construction of the site to prepare the silos for Northrop Grumman’s Sentinel ICBM, which will replace Minuteman III, is set to begin this summer.
“By advancing the use of next-generation nuclear energy, the DAF [Department of Air Force] is strengthening the energy security of our power projection platforms and contributing to long-term national energy leadership,” Nancy Balkus, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Infrastructure, Energy and Environment, said in the press release. “This initiative represents a critical step in ensuring the department remains the world’s premier Air Force and Space Force.”
The release also said the two bases will be paired with ANPI technology that “best fits the installation’s energy needs,” and deployment is anticipated by 2030.