US Air Force department names firms to power its bases with mini nukes

The US Department of the Air Force (DAF) has selected three companies for possible nuclear microreactor projects at three of its installations under a program aimed at improving energy resilience if the electricity grid goes down. According to the DAF, the companies selected are Radiant Industries, Westinghouse, and Antares …

[david 12]

microreactor 1-50 MW

For comparison, I think the AUKUS submarine is expected to come in around 75, and I think larger American subs come in around 150.

[eldakka]

Re: microreactor 1-50 MW

For comparison, I think the AUKUS submarine is expected to come in around 75, and I think larger American subs come in around 150

Those numbers seem on the low side.

The US Virginia-class's S9G reactor is reportedly 210MW. The PWR3 to be used in the Dreadnought-class is based on that S9G. SSN-Aukus is expected to use an enhanced PWR3+ reactor. So while it certainly may be less than the 210MW of the parent design, I'd be surprised if it was as low as 75MW. For a vessel that is designed for the same role as a Virginia, especially as a more modern design (the Virginia's are a 30-year old design though with significant block upgrades) with likely a greater and more powerful (i.e. requires more energy to run) sensor suite, I'd expect it to be closer (if not more than) the Virginia's 210MW than to 75MW.

[MachDiamond]

Superfund Sites go nuclear

When US military bases are shut down they are always a massive hazardous waste headache after decades of improper disposal of wastes and that the government allows itself to use banned substances long after anyone doing so in the civilian world would do prison time for having any. I have little hope that they'll do any better with nuclear waste.

[Blackjack]

Re: Superfund Sites go nuclear

A gas station alone has so much chemical waste on it you cannot use an abandoned gas station for anything else unless it is a parking lot or a car washing center.

That's why so many abandoned gas stations are just left abandoned.

I cannot even imagine how much harder it must be to clear an abandoned US military base since nine out of ten times they don't even bother with closed down gas stations.

[IGotOut]

Re: Superfund Sites go nuclear

If anyone is in any doubt about the USA leaving toxic chemicals behind from their military bases, just as Greenland.

[Julz]

Re: Superfund Sites go nuclear

And an abandoned nuclear reactor.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bit early for April Fool's Day

Hmmm – so just target the air force base reactor core location with a few dozen cheap drones/ballistic missiles, or a single hypersonic version, and the whole base is irradiated and its entire military operation wiped out at a stroke, not to mention, because they won’t, the terrible consequences for the neighborhood/surrounding countries.

More genius military planning from our Pentagon overlords….

[disillusioned fanboi]

Re: Bit early for April Fool's Day

What do you think happens if an aircraft carrier sinks?

By comparison an impact limited to a few square kilometres is negligible.

[MachDiamond]

Re: Bit early for April Fool's Day

"What do you think happens if an aircraft carrier sinks?"

In Pearl Harbor or somewhere near the Mariana Trench?

[BackToTheFuture]

Re: Bit early for April Fool's Day

"What do you think happens if an aircraft carrier sinks? By comparison an impact limited to a few square kilometres is negligible."

Urm - 1 entire military base = a few square kilometres. That's all the personnel and all the aircraft and all the other military hardware taken out at a stroke due to irradiation or the rather urgent need for anything fleshy not to hang around. Or indeed return.

Back of a beer mat calculation - the article states that a microreactor is designed to produce between 1 and 50 megawatts of power. For comparison, each of the 4 Chernobyl reactors produced 1,000 megawatts. So a mid-range 25 megawatt microreactor in meltdown could be producing around 2.5% of a Chernobyl reactor in meltdown's radioactive products to the local area. Hardly negligible, even for Homer Simpson, and hardly trivial.

Good luck cleaning that one up.