AURORA | Buckley Space Force Base will soon be home to one of the first portable nuclear reactors installed on a U.S. military base as part of a Pentagon initiative aimed at making military bases less dependent on the civilian grid, according to Department of Defense officials.
Buckley was selected as one of the bases to be outfitted with a “micro” nuclear reactor and is slated to have it installed by 2028, contractor and base officials said. Part of the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations initiative, the Department of the Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit announced that they had selected Radiant Industries, Inc. to design, install, and operate this microreactor.
The initiative launched in 2021, and other bases selected for the trials include Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and the Joint Base San Antonio in Texas.
A spokesperson for the Air Force said that they had “evaluated all available technologies that can provide reliable, uninterrupted power and support mission readiness,” and the micro-reactors topped the list of potential energy sources.
The spokesperson added: “Modern microreactors offer 24/7 resilient power, built-in safety features, and the ability to operate independently from the commercial grid.”
Nuclear microreactors generate electricity through a scaled-down version of traditional nuclear power, using controlled nuclear fission to produce large amounts of heat that are then converted into electricity through either thermal or mechanical energy.
According to the Idaho National Laboratory, microreactors can be operated for several years without refueling and can be integrated with other energy sources on and off the grid.
Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Aurora, and Colorado’s two senators lauded the initiative in their recent meeting at Buckley.
Crow pointed out that Buckley’s energy consumption runs off the civilian power grid, driving up prices for Colorado ratepayers. By this reasoning, getting Buckley off the grid would drive down energy costs in the surrounding area.
Buckley also operates a solar array that covers around 35% of the base’s energy needs, according to a report from the Defense Logistics Agency.
Radiant will be providing its Kaleidos portable nuclear microreactor, which can generate one megawatt of electricity. A spokesperson for Radiant likened that to being able to power about a thousand homes in America.
This microreactor may not cover all of Buckley’s energy needs, officials said. It will, however, get the base closer to running entirely independent of the civilian grid.
According to Radiant’s website describing the program, the Kaleidos reactor can be shipped back to the manufacturer to refuel once the fuel source has been depleted, and manage any waste, either through reuse or placement in underground federal repositories. The Kaleidos can be fueled four times during its anticipated 20-year product lifespan.
In a press release, Michael Borders, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment, called these microreactors and the innovations in nuclear energy a “pivotal moment for the Department of the Air Force.”
“The future of air and space dominance is powered by resilient energy,” said Borders. “By integrating advanced nuclear technology, we are not just keeping the lights on; we are guaranteeing that our most critical national security missions will never be held at risk by a power outage.”
Still, for some, nuclear reactors conjure fears of a nuclear meltdown like that of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 or Fukushima in 2011. These safety concerns, coupled with the environmental impact of construction and the fact that nuclear waste has to be disposed of onsite, have led to a whole host of environmental advocacy groups, such as The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, which oppose the construction and operation of downscaled nuclear reactors.
The Sierra Club opposes the “licensing, construction, and operation” of any new nuclear reactors utilizing the fission process.
The Sierra Club cites past nuclear power plant meltdowns as proof that “none of the fundamental problems with nuclear power have ever been addressed.”
No one died from the Three Mile Island accident, and there were no direct deaths from radiation, according to the World Nuclear Association.
Radiant’s chief nuclear officer, Rita Baranwal, told the Sentinel that the Kaleidos reactor is “meltdown-proof and leak-safe.”
“First and foremost, Radiant is serious about maintaining the safety culture that the nuclear industry is known for,” Baranwal said. “The United States has decades of experience operating reactors with an impeccable safety record. (The U.S. has) 94 large reactors operating around the country.”
Baranwal added that, beyond the history of strong regulation and safety mechanisms in place for nuclear power, microreactors like the Kaleidos are designed with safety at the forefront.
“The reactor… is designed to be resilient and capable of withstanding very extreme environments. Really, safety is baked into the design of the reactor,” Baranwal said.
Part of the reason for this, Baranwal explained, is the passive cooling system in microreactors. If there is a total loss of power, microreactors are designed to shut down and cool off on their own, without any operator intervention.
Furthermore, the type of fuel in Kaleidos reactors is extraordinarily durable.
“This reactor runs on TRISO particles, which are specks of uranium,” explained Baranwal. “Then you’ve got layers of carbon and silicon carbide. So you’ve got four different layers there to retain the fission gas that is generated when the uranium fissions.”
Jenifer Shafer, a professor in the Colorado School of Mines Chemistry Department and Nuclear Science Program at the Colorado School of Mines, confirmed that TRISO fuel has been tested to hold together up to 1700°C or 3200°F. The fuel isn’t indestructible; if it’s pushed too hot, the silicon carbide and carbon layers could hypothetically fail. Shafer said she didn’t believe there would be enough fuel to burn a reactor hot enough to melt TRISO in the case of Radiant’s reactor.
Shafer added that that only applies to specific designs operated within their limits.
Although nuclear micro-reactors are typically thought of as safe, there are those within the physics and engineering fields who are skeptical of those claims.
Edwin Lyman, a physicist who is the Director of Nuclear Power Safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists, has warned that, in some cases, passive features may not always work in extreme events like wildfires or earthquakes. And in some cases, those passive features could make accidents worse. Neither Shafer nor Lyman has worked on the Kaleidos reactor and said they cannot speak to the details of how it is engineered.
For the Air Force’s part, they say they are continuing to work alongside regulators to ensure they follow safety protocols.
Colorado has a turbulent history with nuclear power. The Rocky Flats Plant was a weapons manufacturing facility built on the western suburbs of Denver that produced nuclear arms from the 1950s to the early 90s. Airborne plutonium leaked into the neighboring communities, including Arvada, Westminster, and Broomfield. Community members who lived close to Rocky Flats were staunchly opposed to the plant for a variety of concerns, including environmental, health, and anti-war sentiment.
More recently, DIA suspended its plan to install a similar modular reactor at the airport were shelved, partly due to backlash from metro residents.
Aurora City Councilmember Amy Wiles told the Sentinel that Buckley Space Force Base had not been in contact with the city council over the reactors.
“The base is federal property, and therefore the city has no control over what is built on the base,” Wiles said, adding that she has already started to hear concerns from some of her constituents. “I have received concerns from community members and have directed them to outreach to the appropriate federal agency to provide feedback.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Crow confirmed that his office intends to conduct oversight of the project both through their congressional office and Crow’s position on the House Armed Services Committee.
“We are encouraged that Buckley Space Force Base is a finalist to be the new home for these microreactors, but we still have lots of questions,” said Eric Maruyama, spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, “We are a natural home for this innovative technology and look forward to securing these microreactors and having our questions answered. To date, the Governor’s Office and State of Colorado agencies have not been involved in the planning for this microreactor. The Governor expects the federal agencies responsible for this project to meet all applicable safety and environmental requirements.”
A spokesperson for the Air Force told the Sentinel that they were coordinating with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy to evaluate the safety of “each potential reactor technology to ensure adherence to the strictest safety options”. These regulators will conduct safety reviews for the chosen reactor to ensure safety for the installation and the local community. “As with all commercial nuclear energy facilities in the United States, the selected vendors must follow strict federal nuclear safety and environmental regulations and processes as part of the National Environmental Policy Act review process. This includes development and testing of detailed safety and emergency response plans — from reactor design to decommissioning.”
Regarding whether the DOD/DAF had any contingency plans in place in the event of a natural disaster, the spokesperson said, “As with all commercial nuclear energy facilities in the United States, the selected vendors must follow strict federal nuclear safety and environmental regulations and processes as part of the National Environmental Policy Act review process. This includes development and testing of detailed safety and emergency response plans — from reactor design to decommissioning.”
The DAF spokesperson emphasized that any advanced nuclear reactor deployed as part of the (Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations initiative) would be operated by “well-trained, highly capable operators from the nuclear industry” who are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Department of Energy.
Radiant is anticipating scheduling public meetings in Aurora sometime in the near future to talk to the community about their technology and answer any questions or concerns, officials said.