The US Defense Department (referred to as the Department of War) is accelerating advanced nuclear power for resilience, tying a deployment ambition next year to concrete progress in Project Pele with TRISO fuel now delivered to Idaho National Laboratory.
The Office of Nuclear Energy said the DOD is teaming with the Energy Department to deploy advanced nuclear reactors at military bases and AI data centers by 2027.
INL said the delivery of advanced nuclear fuel to its Transient Reactor Test Facility is a major milestone for Project Pele, described as a first-of-its-kind mobile microreactor prototype intended to provide resilient power for military operations.
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The fuel is tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel made from uranium, carbon, and oxygen formed into a small kernel, then coated in multiple layers including silicon carbide to withstand high heat, radiation, and corrosive conditions.
The Idaho lab said thousands of poppy seed-sized TRISO particles are combined into compact fuel forms used in advanced reactors like the Project Pele unit being developed under the DOE’s Strategic Capabilities Office.
INL Director John Wagner attributed the milestone to the Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Gas Reactor TRISO Fuel Qualification Program, citing fabrication and qualification work using capabilities at INL’s Advanced Test Reactor and Materials and Fuels Complex alongside Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
DOE’s Mike Goff framed the development as a template for accelerating innovation in advanced nuclear fuels and technologies through collaborative partnerships, while Project Pele’s manager David Schurr called the first batch production and delivery a milestone that “further accelerates” the administration’s nuclear objectives.
Principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, Jeff Waksman, described the delivery as “the first TRISO microreactor fuel delivered at its final destination,” and positioned Pele as a leap toward Gen-IV nuclear power with the Army’s Janus Program expected to follow with “affordable, reliable, commercial nuclear power.”
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