U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll announced plans to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) on Guam and other facilities in the Indo-Pacific region. According to him, the installations are expected to be operational at bases no later than 2028. The main goal of the project, called Janus, is to provide fully autonomous power supply for remote garrisons, where civilian grids are chronically overloaded and unreliable. The issue of electricity shortages is particularly acute in island territories such as Guam, which serves as a key hub for U.S. forces in the region. Defense experts openly state that the deployment of SMRs is aimed at preparing for a potential confrontation with China. As Beijing expands not only its nuclear arsenal but also its long-range strike capabilities to disrupt traditional maritime supply routes, the dependence of bases on diesel fuel deliveries is becoming a critical vulnerability. Pentagon analysts have repeatedly noted that, in the event of a conflict, communication lines to Guam would come under direct threat from the missile forces of the People’s Liberation Army. Under such conditions, only compact nuclear installations capable of operating for several years without refueling and without the need for constant fuel deliveries can ensure the uninterrupted functioning of radars, communications systems, and other infrastructure in isolation. In May 2025, a presidential order set a deadline to launch the first such reactor at a military site by September 30, 2028. As early as October, the U.S. Army officially began implementing the Janus program, which involves adapting civilian SMR technologies for military needs. Local lawmakers in Guam and environmental groups point to another concern: they argue that storing nuclear fuel on an island within range of Chinese missiles is too dangerous, and that in the event of a military conflict, it could inevitably lead to large-scale radioactive contamination of the territory.
https://neutronbytes.com/2025/10/19/army-goes-nuclear-microreactors-set-for-us-bases-by-2028/
The time the Army tried this under Greenland without anyone’s knowledge didn’t turn out great, but at least nothing exploded.
They did manage to leave a crap ton of Nuclear waste under the ice where it would “probably be fine”. Which is now melting, which was nice of them.
Not saying more modern designs / operational plans couldn’t be great but their track record isn’t not concerning.
Plus if/when these catch on more, you’re going to have all kinds of organizations both public and private needing to dispose of radioactive chemical waste with a half life of 25,000 years. I may be a cynic, but I have zero faith that any public or private organization is going to properly account for that and it will be us, the public, who will suffer the consequences both in funding the cleanup as well as the health effects of having it dumped in our backyard by some fly by night company that ‘closes’ right before the lawsuits start and then reopens under a new name.