In this case I mean nuclear reactors rather than nuclear weapons. Historically, it has been by making an issue a defense priority that policies which otherwise might have faced stiff opposition into realities. That has been the case with racial integration, our highway system, and expanding the number of people with college educations, just to name a few. It appears that might be the case with small-scale nuclear reactors. In an article at Military Times Todd South notes:
Pentagon officials recently announced that the Defense Department will build a nuclear microreactor that can be flown to an austere site by a C-17 cargo plane and set up to power a military base.
A statement released Wednesday by the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office announced the construction and testing decision that followed the office’s Environmental Impact Statement work for “Project Pele.â€
The project’s Program Manager, Dr. Jeff Waksman, told Military Times that the office expects to choose one of two designs submitted by BWXT Advanced Technologies, LLC, out of Lynchburg, Virginia, and X-energy, LLC, out of Greenbelt, Maryland, in the coming weeks.
The article goes on to note that there are a dozen locations which could be used as pilot locations.
I expect that the plan will be subject to legal opposition, one of the major costs of nuclear power, but I also suspect that going via the military will sidestep the opposition to some extent.
As always, the small print is the key.
“Though the drawing board phases of the concepts have gone on in fits and starts since at least 2010, the actual final design and “bending metal†phase have not yet begun.”
Given its been 10 years and final design hasn’t even started — it is going to be a while (potentially a long while).
That would be a huge improvement over using diesel generators currently in use, which need a lot of logistical support.