Micro Nuclear Reactors to Change Future War

By Dan Goure – Vice President atThe Lexington Institute

Micro Nuclear Reactors Could Play Big Role In Future U.S. Military Operations

To date, the U.S. military has not had a major problem getting to a military contingency. The problems emerge once U.S. forces arrive. The need to deploy units across the theater of operations to defeat insurgents, establish control, secure critical infrastructure and protect the civilian population results in the creation of numerous targets that hostile forces can engage. A particular vulnerability is created by the need to resupply far flung bases and outposts. Each convoy loaded with fuel food, ammunition and supplies constitutes a potential vulnerability. A high percent of Coalition casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, both uniform and civilian contractors, were incurred during ground transport operations.= The threat to U.S. lines of communications and logistics support will be even more severe in a high-end conflict.

At the same time, the demand for support, particularly electric power generation is only going to increase. The U.S. military is on the verge of deploying directed energy weapons, electric vehicles and additive manufacturing capabilities to mobile formations, as well as fixed installations.

The Department of Defense is exploring ways of improving the security of supply convoys and simultaneously reducing the resupply demands of forward deployed and fast-moving formations. A key to the transformation of U.S. military logistics and to reducing the casualties resulting from convoy operations is lessening the demand for petroleum products. This means making vehicle and aircraft engines more efficient. It also means finding alternatives to diesel and gasoline-powered generators used by many military systems and on virtually all bases.

Among the alternatives to petroleum-powered power sources being explored is micro nuclear reactors. Last year’s Defense Science Board’s study on survivable logistics proposed prototyping very small nuclear reactors for expeditionary power generation. Recently, DoD’s Strategic Capabilities Office published a Request for Information (RFI) from industry on ideas leading to the creation of an under 40-ton small mobile nuclear power plant that could operate for three years or more, be transportable by truck or C-17, put out 1 to 10 megawatts of power and be inherently safe from the risk of a meltdown. The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Logistics, G-4, declared that it was possible to develop, construct and deploy such a mobile nuclear power plant with existing technology.

A mobile nuclear power plant can serve multiple functions. In addition to powering electronic systems such as computers, communications devices, additive manufacturing machines and directed energy weapons, it can run heating and cooling systems, power water desalination and even generate hydrogen fuel for advanced vehicle power plants. This would further reduce the demand for resupply, leading to a decline in the size and frequency of logistic convoys.

A report by the Nuclear Energy Institute asserts that micro reactors could offer a safe and secure source of power for domestic military installations: