The Department of Energy has conditionally selected Radiant Nuclear and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Thursday to receive high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).
This round of HALEU allocations, under DOE’s HALEU Availability Program, will support NASA’s Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom mission, which aims to take a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars, and Radiant’s microreactor, Kaleidos, deployment at the Air Force’s Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado.
Radiant’s Kaleidos unit will be a portable high-temperature gas-cooled microreactor with an electric generating capacity of one megawatt.
The El Segundo, Calif.-based microreactor developer was among three nuclear reactor companies selected by the Department of Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit to deploy a microreactor at a military base.
The push for more microreactors to be used to power military operations comes as a part of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14299, which seeks to have a nuclear reactor on a domestic military base by Sept. 30, 2028.
While this is the first time NASA has been selected under this program, this will be Radiant’s second DOE HALEU award. The company’s first HALEU allocation supported its Kaleidos testing at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory.
“This second HALEU allocation moves us a step closer to turning Buckley’s national security requirement for resilient power into an operational reality,” Rita Baranwal, Radiant chief nuclear officer, said in the company’s press release. “America’s most important national security missions need power that remains available when the grid is disrupted, fuel supply lines are strained, or conventional infrastructure is vulnerable. DOE is helping put the fuel pathway in place for Radiant to deliver that resilience at Buckley.”
Under the Energy Act of 2020, the HALEU Availability Program was created to help DOE to fuel domestic research, demonstration and commercial use. The first round of HALEU allocations was made in April 2025, while the second-round selections were made in August 2025.
Along with the HALEU allocation, Radiant was also previously selected under DOE’s reactor pilot program, which had a target date of July 4 to have at least three test reactors reach criticality. Though Radiant did not meet that timeline, Baranwal said during a July 21 NRC Commission meeting the company is more focused on conducting a full-scale, full-power five-phase test for its reactor this year.
Baranwal said the company’s approach to go through a more comprehensive reactor is important to its goal of having its Kaleidos reactor ready for deployment and in line with the 2028 timeline.
