The U.S. military’s secretive
Strategic Capabilities Office, or SCO, is asking for potential vendors to submit proposals for small
mobile nuclear reactors to help meet ever-growing demands for power
during operations in remote and austere locations. This request for
information comes as the U.S. Army, in particular, is looking to extend
the amount of time its units can operate independent of established supply chains, but portable nuclear power could introduce new risks to the battlefield.SCO first announced that they were looking for “information on innovative technologies and approaches” relating to a possible future “small mobile nuclear reactor prototype design” on FedBizOpps, the U.S. government’s main contracting website, on Jan.18, 2019. The organization posted an amended version of the notice, which outlines a “multi-phase prototype project” as part of what it is calling Project Dilithium, four days later.
“Energy usage during contingency operations will likely increase significantly over the next few decades,” the latest version of the request for information explains. “The modern operational space has amplified the need for alternative energy sources to enable mobility in forward land based and maritime military operations".
SCO basic requirements envision a reactor that can generate between one and 10 megawatts of energy, less than the average output for even a small research reactor, and weigh less than 40 tons. The final design would need to be portable by semi-trailer truck, ship, or a U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster III cargo plane.
The goal is to develop a system that personnel can set up in three days or less and shut down and pack up in less than a week. The reactor itself would remain functional for at least three years without needing new fuel.
There are a number of potential concepts already in various stages of development that could meet SCO’s requirements. The U.S. Department of Energy’s own Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), in cooperation with the Westinghouse power company, has been working on one design called MegaPower for some time now. Westinghouse is separately working on its own eVinci micro reactor design.
The MegaPower reactor can generate at least one megawatt of power for up
to 10 years and meets the SCO’s demands for how long it takes to set up
and tear down. More importantly, the design uses what are known as
“heat pipes” to both keep the system cool and generate power,
eliminating the need for complex and potentially hazardous water-cooling
arrangements.
Another option in development is Filippone and Associates LLC’s Holos ,
a unique gas-cooled modular reactor. Named after the Greek word meaning
“whole,” the design only “goes critical” and works as intended when a
certain number of modules are positioned together, touching off the
nuclear reaction. Each self-contained modular has its own turbine
generator that then produces power.
There are other small nuclear reactors either available or in development, such as the URENCO U-Battery and StarCore's micro reactor, but these are not necessarily intended to be rapidly repositioned from one place to another. They could require significant modifications to meet the portability requirements that SCO is looking for.
At present, deployed U.S. military forces rely almost entirely on established power grids and their own fossil-fuel powered generators to generate the required power to keep bases and forward operating sites up and running. Especially at remote and austere locations, this requires a steady supply of diesel or other fuels either by ground convoy or aircraft.
This can quickly become a costly proposition and demands additional resources to safeguard those supply lines. Any disruption can severely degrade deployed units’ combat effectiveness and put them at risk of losing communications and situational awareness if the power goes out or has to be rationed.
These are the kind of concerns that led the U.S. Army to announce in November 2018 that it was looking for ways to ensure its brigade combat teams would be able to fight for a week without getting resupplied. This is twice as long as those units can operate without fuel and other supplies at present.
The other branches of the U.S. military have their own requirements for this kind of portable power, as well. The Air Force and the Marine Corps are both actively exploring new concepts for rapidly establishing bases that could benefit from the addition of mobile power and energy sources.
However, one of the biggest potential problems with battlefield nuclear power continues to be safety. There are obvious concerns about what happens when you begin deploying dozens, if not hundreds of small nuclear reactors into areas that are, by definition, full of hostile threats.
But even if the reactor itself cannot catastrophically fail, something that may be a tall order to ensure in austere conditions regardless of the design, powering remote and austere bases with nuclear power could run other risks. If hostile forces end up destroying the reactor, it could potentially lead to the hazardous dispersal of radioactive material.
While Autonomous Mobile Energy System (AMES) designed by Ascent Systems Technologies can deliver much smaller amount of energy than nuclear reactor, it is much smaller, lighter (less than 2.5 ton fully charged) therefore can be delivered to hard to reach places, including by a helicopter, it can be deployed automatically in minutes rather than days, but most importantly, has no hazardous radioactive materials and does not present an attractive target for an adversary.
