The Duck Curve#national security
Department of War plans shore-based Navy microreactor at Crane by 2028
The Department of War announced on September 9, 2026 the planned installation of an advanced nuclear Micro Modular Reactor at Naval Weapons Station Crane, Indiana, no later than September 2028, executed through the Army's Janus Program with the Navy and the State of Indiana. The release describes the reactor as commercially owned and operated and as the first power-producing reactor installed in Indiana, and names no vendor, design, output, or cost; an Army official's quote cites the Army's "regulatory authorities" without saying who licenses the unit.
Centrus signs HALEU supply contract for Radiant's Kaleidos microreactors
Centrus Energy said in a Form 8-K filed September 9, 2026 that it has signed a definitive multi-year contract to supply high-assay low-enriched uranium for multiple of Radiant Industries' Kaleidos microreactors, with deliveries scheduled to begin before the end of the decade and Radiant prepayments supporting Centrus's domestic commercial enrichment capacity program. The release gives no quantity or value. The same day Centrus priced a $500 million public offering of shares and warrants, its second enrichment contract with customer prepayments in five weeks after X-energy's on August 6.
California sues Interior to undo Morro Bay offshore wind lease buyout
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission sued the US Interior Department on August 28, 2026, asking a federal court to void the agreement that reimburses Golden State Wind up to $120,240,000 from the Judgment Fund for abandoning its approximately 1.5 to 2 GW Morro Bay offshore wind lease once matching investments are made in Gulf Coast fossil fuel projects. The complaint tallies nearly $4 billion directed from the fund toward cancelling twelve offshore wind projects.
Five US microreactor designs went critical in the summer of 2026
Five US microreactor designs completed first zero-power criticality tests between June and August 2026, all under DOE authorization rather than NRC licenses: Antares Nuclear's Mark-0, Valar Atomics' Ward 250, Deployable Energy's Unity, Aalo Atomics' Critical Test Reactor, and Westinghouse's eVinci. Four went critical at DOE-complex sites and Valar's at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, with the Valar details per POWER magazine's account. Radiant shipped its 1 MWe Kaleidos to Idaho National Laboratory's DOME test bed in August 2026 for the field's first full-power test campaign, targeted for completion in the third quarter of 2026, per Radiant's announcement, and BWXT plans formal testing of the Army's Project Pele prototype as early as 2027. Deployment money so far is federal: the Army's Janus program totals up to $2.2 billion across five vendors, with a first reactor targeted to operate by September 30, 2028; no nuclear microreactor supplies power to a US commercial grid today, per AP.
US uranium output more than tripled in 2025 as enrichment plants line up
US uranium concentrate production more than tripled in 2025 to 2.1 million pounds of U3O8, the most since 2017, according to EIA data published August 28, 2026. The same day, the NRC published an order aligning hearing procedures for two pending uranium enrichment plant applications: Global Laser Enrichment's Paducah, Kentucky facility and Orano's Project IKE in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Trump declares bulk-power emergency, targets foreign grid equipment
President Trump signed Executive Order 14420 on August 26, 2026, declaring a national emergency over the US bulk-power system under IEEPA and authorizing the Energy Department to bar acquisition, import, or installation of foreign-produced grid equipment, including substation transformers, grid-connected inverters, and battery energy storage systems, when it finds both a tie to a Covered Foreign Entity and an undue security risk. The order directs implementing rules as needed within 120 days and also covers equipment already installed.
US Army awards up to $2.2 billion for microreactors at five bases
The US Army selected five vendors on August 26, 2026 under its Janus Program: Antares Nuclear at Fort Bragg, BWXT at Fort Campbell, General Atomics at Fort Hood, Radiant Industries at Fort Benning, and Westinghouse Government Services at Fort Drum, with up to a combined $2.2 billion in milestone-based funding across fiscal 2027 through 2031. The Army expects more than 20 microreactors across installations and targets a first reactor operating by September 30, 2028; the reactors will be licensed by the Army rather than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, per AP.
Pacific Fusion breaks ground on a $1 billion fusion campus in Albuquerque
Pacific Fusion broke ground on August 25, 2026 on a $1 billion Research and Manufacturing Campus at Mesa del Sol in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it will build its Demonstration System: a pulser-driven inertial fusion machine designed to achieve net facility gain by 2030 and fusion bursts exceeding 100 megajoules. The National Nuclear Security Administration and the company signed a memorandum of understanding on fusion collaboration the same day.
FCC redraws its foreign inverter ban around the 45X tax credit
The FCC modified its Covered List entry for foreign-produced power inverters on August 20, 2026: the ban now covers only UL 1741 utility-interactive inverters but extends to wired connectivity, and inverters eligible for the Section 45X manufacturing credit are no longer treated as foreign-produced.