This Alaskan Air Base Will Host An Experimental Mini Nuclear Reactor

[PoliticAverse]

The U.S. Air Force recently announced that it has picked Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska as the base to host a new small nuclear reactor as part of a pilot program. The U.S. military, as a whole, together with the Department of Energy has been increasingly looking into micro-reactor designs as possible ways to meet ever-growing electricity demands, including for units on the battlefield, as well as to help cut costs and improve general operational efficiency by reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

...

“Energy is a critical asset to ensure mission continuity at our installations,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety, and Infrastructure Mark Correll said in a statement. “Micro-reactors are a promising technology for ensuring energy resilience and reliability, and are particularly well-suited for powering and heating remote domestic military bases like Eielson AFB.”

It is not clear exactly what the specifications might be for the reactor that is now set to be constructed at Eielson, which will be Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certified and contractor-owned and operated, or when it might first go critical or reach its full expected power output. The Air Force did say that the project in question had been initiated in response to language in the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2019 Fiscal Year and that the goal is for the micro-reactor to be fully operational by the end of 2027.

This would seem to indicate that this reactor is the one that the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) is leading the development of as part of an effort known as Project Pele. The goal of that project, which started in 2019 and that you can read more about here, is to demonstrate a small reactor capable of producing between one and five megawatts of power. By comparison, typical civilian nuclear power plants generate hundreds or even thousands of megawatts. The microreactor Project Pele is seeking is small in terms of power generation even compared to the compact designs used in nuclear-powered submarines, such as the 40-megawatt class S9G used in the U.S. Navy's Virginia class boats.

Read the rest at: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42818/this-alaskan-air-base-will-host-an-experimental-mini-nuclear-reactor

[hunter]

1. American Nuclear Society says it's not Project Pele.

-- snip --

It’s not Project Pele: As a request for information issued by the Defense Logistics Agency Energy on behalf of the Air Force in September 2020 explained, "The Department of Defense is interested in two different concepts, and, therefore, it is important to distinguish between two distinct microreactor technology applications: fixed-site and mobile. While the DOD Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) is investigating the feasibility of mobile microreactors [through Project Pele] . . . the AF, through this RFI, is focused on the use of fixed-site applications of microreactors. The AF and the SCO will share insight gained from these initiatives, but these efforts will remain independent of each other, and there is no plan to combine efforts. The AF’s energy vision is to enhance mission assurance through energy assurance."

-- more --

https://www.ans.org/news/article-3367/microreactor-planned-for-us-air-force-base-in-alaska/

Project Pele is a mobile nuclear reactor in a shipping crate... which sounds crazy to me.

The current coal fired plant at Eielson Air Force Base has a nameplate capacity of 25 megawatts. This proposal is for a 1-5 megawatt reactor.

[PoliticAverse]

2. A shipping container reactor would be easy to truck to whatever location was needed...

and portability is something the military highly desires.