The US Department of Army has launched the Janus Program, a next-generation nuclear power program intended to deliver resilient, secure, and assured energy to support national defence installations and critical missions. The Janus Program will leverage the Army’s nuclear regulatory authorities in close partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure the highest standards of safety, oversight, and transparency.
The announcement was made at an Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting Warriors Corner panel, where Army leaders were joined by the Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “The US Army is leading the way on fielding innovative and disruptive technology,” said Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll. “We are shredding red tape and incubating next-generation capabilities in a variety of critical sectors, including nuclear power.”
Driscoll and Wright emphasised the importance of being able to supply vast amounts of energy to remote locations while limiting threats to supply chains. “If you think about our engagement and conflict in the Indo-Pacific, it is not going to be like a war we’ve had the last 40 or 50 years,” said Driscoll. “We are going to need energy on the actual objective. We’re going to need to be able to access power like we have never needed it before.”
“Since the Manhattan Project, the Department of Energy and the Department of War [formerly Department of Defense] have forged one of the defining partnerships in American history advancing the science, engineering, and industrial capability that power our national security,” said Wright. “What began as a wartime effort became the backbone of America’s peacetime strength. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re extending that legacy through initiatives like the Janus Program, accelerating next-generation reactor deployment and strengthening the nuclear foundations of American energy and defence.”
In partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the reactors will be commercially built and operated, rather than owned by the military. To encourage private investment, the Army will use a milestone-based contracting model inspired by NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme – the framework that helped launch the commercial space industry by funding companies like SpaceX and Boeing to reach key technical milestones instead of paying for traditional government procurement.
The Army will provide technical oversight and assistance, including support to the full uranium fuel cycle and broader nuclear supply chain. The programme seeks to strengthen both defence and US industrial capabilities. The programme is a response to President Donald Trump’s May Executive Order 14299, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, which directs the Department of War to commence operation of an Army-regulated nuclear reactor at a domestic military installation no later than 30 September 2028. The Department of Army will lead the Janus Program on behalf of the Department of War.
The Janus Program will be led by Dr Jeff Waksman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy & Environment and will build on lessons learned from Project Pele, which Waksman also led. The Defense Department (now the War Department) Strategic Capabilities Office broke ground on the Project Pele, a transportable 1.5 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled demonstration microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in September 2024.
Project Pele is a whole-of-government effort, with critical expertise provided by DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), US Army Corps of Engineers USACE), NASA, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). In July, BWX Technologies (BWXT) began work to fabricate the reactor core for the Pele microreactor, which is expected to begin producing electricity in 2028.
“The Janus Program is going to deliver real hardware, not PowerPoint slides,” said Waksman. “I will personally oversee this effort on behalf of the War Department. By leveraging Army’s programme management and oversight capabilities with the accomplishments of Project Pele, the US Army is ready to move forward at lightning speed to make next-generation nuclear power a reality.”
Waksman said the military plans to request “hundreds of millions of dollars” over the next five years to develop the first reactors. “If you look at where modern warfare is going, in terms of drones and energy weapons, there is an increasing amount of electricity and energy that is being used at the same time,” Waksman said. “Right now, all energy reliability on military installations is done with fossil fuels. It is not possible with current technology to provide 24/7 power with solar, wind, and batteries.”
Officials noted that Janus will help to solve a pressing logistical challenge in any potential conflict with China removing the need to transport energy across vast ocean distances. Waksman cited Guam as an example, where more than 90% of electricity comes from imported oil delivered by foreign-flagged tankers traveling thousands of miles across contested sea lanes. “Having something that can provide power for years at a time without any resupply would be an absolute game-changer,” he said.
Waksman described Janus as a “real hardware programme” aimed at delivering tangible energy capacity rather than a policy concept. “There have been a lot of nuclear projects in the past that peaked at the press release,” he said. “That is not what this is.” He noted: “You’ll probably start seeing physical hardware around 2027. In nuclear terms, that’s light-speed for a reactor programme.”
However, he acknowledged that the US still lacks the engineering talent and supply chains to mass produce these items. “There’s just not enough engineering talent to go around,” he said. “The labs and companies are all hiring each other’s people. And suppliers are hesitant because nuclear-qualified parts are expensive. What we want to do is consolidate the supply lines so multiple companies can leverage the same suppliers – the way Boeing and Airbus share components.”
The Army plans to work with multiple vendors, each expected to build at least two reactors with the first serving as a prototype and the second refined through lessons learned. Initially microreactors will be used to power domestic installations, but Waksman said the technology is being developed with a view to future expeditionary use and commercial spin-offs. “The Army doesn’t want to be the only buyer of these reactors,” he said. “If we can get industry to the sixth or seventh unit, where they can sell to commercial partners, then we’ve succeeded.” A draft request for proposal is expected in the coming weeks.
Janus was the Roman god of all beginnings and endings, including entrances, doorways, and passages. This extends to abstract concepts such as transitions, time, duality, and the progression from one stage of life or era to another. He also presided over the beginning and end of conflict, with the gates of his temple in Rome being opened in times of war and closed in times of peace.
