The lights along the flight line at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, shine under the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights March 18, 2015. (Shawn Nickel/U.S. Air Force)
A remote Air Force base in Alaska has been selected to be the first U.S. military installation with a nuclear microreactor under a Defense Department pilot project.
Eielson Air Force Base, located near Fairbanks, was named in June by the Defense Department as the preferred site for the reactor. Pentagon officials hope to have it built and running by late 2028.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said in the announcement that Eielson was selected because the microreactors would be most beneficial at isolated bases with fewer power options if other electrical systems failed. Eielson has experienced temporary power outages in 2020 and 2024, according to news reports.
If the pilot project planned at Eielson proves the microreactors have value, addition models could be added to more bases in the future, Meink said.
“This initiative has the potential to shape future strategies for powering national security infrastructure — especially in the Arctic, where energy reliability is critical amid evolving threats,” he said.
Eielson is home to the 354th Fighter Wing. The base operates in extreme Arctic conditions, with temperatures well below zero degrees Fahrenheit during winter.
The reactor could keep the base’s lights on, heat running, and perform other missions, including possibly de-icing runways in case other systems are knocked offline.
The Defense Logistics Agency said Oklo, Inc. would design, build, own and operate the microreactor that the Air Force wants to install at Eielson. The nuclear technology company based in Santa Clara, Calif., is developing a test model of the reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls.
An Oklo, Inc. rendering of the nuclear microreactor building that the Pentagon wants to construct at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. (Oklo, Inc.)
The Pentagon would not say how much the microreactor will cost the military.
Though the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected Oklo’s initial license application for its microreactor design in 2022, citing incomplete data for approval. Oklo has announced plans to reapply. President Donald Trump in May issued a directive that the NRC process applications in less than 18 months.
A 30-year, fixed-price power purchase agreement between the Air Force and Oklo would be finalized once the NRC grants a license.
The project is part of the Pentagon’s Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program, which aims to build microreactors at two military installations by 2030. The reactors are designed to generate between 3 and 10 megawatts of power and operate for several years without refueling.
The Pentagon described microreactors as advanced nuclear systems capable of generating electricity for several years without replenishing the nuclear fuel and do not need connection to commercial power supplies to operate.
In a parallel project, the Defense Department Strategic Capabilities Office is working on a portable reactor that could work up to three years without requiring refueling. The program being developed by BWXT Advanced Technologies would be for a 1-to-5-megawatt reactor that could be transported to sites in the field.
The project is part of a broader federal effort to accelerate the development of nuclear energy. Congress in 2024 passed legislation to streamline nuclear power regulations.
Trump has made fast-tracking nuclear energy projects a priority during his second term in office. In May, he announced a goal of creating 400 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050, with 10 large reactors under construction by 2030.
A series of executive orders signed by Trump in late May call for accelerating the licensing and operation of nuclear power plants, increasing the supply of nuclear fuel, and designating data centers as a critical U.S. defense asset. He said nuclear power would play a critical role in the rapidly growing demand for electricity at data centers and powering U.S. military installations without relying on outside power grids.
“Reducing dependence on vulnerable energy sources and fielding next-generation technologies is integral to our ability to defend the homeland and project power globally,” said Nancy Balkus, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for infrastructure, energy, and environment.
Col. Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson, said the base is looking forward to the microreactor.
“This project would advance our posture to achieve national security objectives to be ‘Ready to go at 50 below!’” he said.
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