The U.S. Navy selected Radiant to deploy a Kaleidos microreactor at Crane Naval Weapons Station in Indiana to power the site’s critical infrastructure. Radiant is the world’s only company producing plug-and-play, mobile commercial nuclear microreactors. This partnership makes Radiant the only nuclear energy company working with all three U.S. military branches: the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Radiant to deploy a 1-megawatt mobile microreactor
The Kaleidos microreactor to be introduced at Crane Naval Weapons Station is a 1-megawatt microreactor with a factory-prefabricated design. It can be transported to the site by land, sea, or air and deployed directly. The reactor is plug-and-play and operates without the need for cooling water, large-scale excavation, or extensive on-site construction. Over its 20-year service life, each refueling can provide up to five years of electricity, and the Kaleidos can operate independently of the grid.
Radiant’s Kaleidos reactor is undergoing the most rigorous testing in the United States at the DOME facility at Idaho National Laboratory. After a highly competitive process, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Radiant exclusive use of the facility for one year. The Kaleidos reactor is undergoing the industry’s only full-scale test.
Vice Adm. Brad Collins, Commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, said that facilities are foundational operating platforms, and ensuring their resilience is critical to supporting the fleet. Established in 1948, the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program’s reactors have collectively logged more than 171 million miles and over 7,500 reactor-years of operation, without a single accident.
Before formal deployment, the project must go through stages including design refinement, prototype testing, environmental assessments, site preparation, and regulatory coordination. Radiant will work with the Navy, the Army, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and other partners, with technical expertise and support from the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NPP).
Dr. Jeff Waksman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, said he was excited to work with the Navy to deploy the Janus reactor and bring Indiana its first advanced microreactor.
Full-power testing at Idaho National Laboratory
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Radiant exclusive use of the facility to conduct full-scale, full-power, long-duration reactor testing. The test uses the same reactor design intended for customer deployments and fresh fuel tailored to custom specifications to validate performance and reliability under real-world operating conditions. By validating its product through military deployments, Radiant is building the operational track record needed to achieve full-scale production and demonstrate its readiness for future large-scale procurement.
Radiant COO Tori Shivanandan said the company was honored to be selected by the U.S. Navy for this important work and thanked the Navy and the Army for their trust in Radiant. She said the company is confident it can provide reliable, steady nuclear power wherever mission needs arise.
This article, “Nuclear energy company Radiant selected to power U.S. Navy infrastructure,” originally appeared on ABMedia.