The US Defense Department is moving ahead with Project Pele, which aims to create a transportable nuclear microreactor. The assembly of the final reactor is expected to begin in February of next year.
In April, the DI newspaper from Terceira Island reported that this nuclear microreactor could supply the Lajes Base.
Lajes was listed as one of the candidate bases to receive the reactor in a 2022 article in the Military Times newspaper.
Other possible destinations for the installation of the microreactor, which can be transported by land, sea, or air, are Greenland, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Alaska.
According to the US Department of Defense, “the reactor, under an initiative of the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), is being manufactured by BWXT Advanced Technologies”.
“The current schedule includes transportation of the fully assembled reactor to Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in 2026, where it would become the first Generation IV nuclear reactor to generate electricity in the United States,” the press release stresses.

Jeff Waksman, who manages the Skin Project, is quoted. “Our close partnership with INL and the Idaho Department of Energy’s Office of Operations is paving the way not only for the manufacture of advanced reactors, but also for their regulation in an efficient and safe manner,” he said.
Upon arrival at the institute, it was reported that the reactor would be transported by truck to the test site and positioned inside a shielding structure. The testing period could last up to three years.
“If successful, transportable nuclear power could meet the growing demand for a resilient, carbon-free energy source capable of providing reliable 24/7 power for critical Department of Defense operations in remote and austere environments,” the statement said.

“Project Pele is a key initiative to improve the Department of Defense’s energy resilience and will also play a crucial role in advancing nuclear energy technology for civilian applications,” points out Jay Dryer, director of the SCO.
Project Pele is “a government-wide effort, with significant contributions from the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.” As DI published in April, the US Department of Defense launched Project Pele in 2019.
The initial goal was to build a 40-ton reactor that could be transported in three to four 20-foot containers and that, once installed, could provide between one and five megawatts of power, operating at full power for three years before refueling.
In 2022, the Department of Defense signed a 280 million-dollar contract with BWXT Advanced Technologies, which is developing one of the projects at a factory in Lynchburg, Virginia.

in Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director

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