U.S. Air Force opens power reactor RFI

The U.S. Air Force wants to hear from companies that could be interested in deploying small nuclear reactors at its bases.

The request for information posted Wednesday intends to assist the federal government in identifying potential developers and "understanding the company's capability to design, license, fuel, construct, and deploy Small, Micro, or Modular Reactor (SMR) technologies in compliance with applicable regulatory, safety, environmental, and security requirements."

According to the RFI, "The information collected will help assess industry confidence in achieving and installing a commercially viable Nth-of-a-Kind (NOAK) capability."

Information gathered from RFI responses also is intended to assist the Air Force in determining whether it wants a competitive process or a small business set-aside.

What to include: According to the RFI, responses should include the following:

• Corporate profile and industrial base.
• Technical capability and technology maturity.
• Regulatory and licensing readiness.
• Fuel supply and fuel cycle strategy.
• Deployment and construction strategy.
• Safety, security, and compliance.
• Financial and commercial structure.
• Mission integrity and scalability.
• Execution and organizational capability.

Details on what specifics should be provided for each bullet point can be found in the RFI.

According to RFI documents, the Air Force is interested in 1-300 MWe microreactors and small modular reactors. For this RFI, the Air Force is not interested in large-scale reactors of 1,000 MWe or greater.

Responses must be received by April 19.

Background: The Air Force has long coveted advanced reactor technology like microreactors to enable secure, carbon-free power while enhancing energy resilience and reducing its reliance on aging commercial grids.

In 2018, Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska was chosen for a commercial microreactor pilot on a military installation. In 2025, the Air Force announced its notice of intent to award Oklo a contract to provide power from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed reactor under 30-year, fixed-price terms.

This pilot project continues to be a topic of great interest in Alaska and elsewhere. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Department of Energy officials discussed it during a March 19 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

Interest in nuclear deployments aren't limited to one military branch. The U.S. Army launched the Janus Program last year; this nuclear power program intends to provide resilient, secure, and reliable energy to support national defense installations and critical missions. The Janus Program builds off another microreactor initiative called Project Pele, which is supporting the design, construction, and demonstration of a mobile microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory.

The Army Defense Innovation Unit, meanwhile, has called for nuclear reactors to be built at domestic military bases; eight companies/reactor designs were selected last year for potential builds through the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program.