A small nuclear reactor could soon sit on the grounds of Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, after the installation was selected for the Department of Defense’s Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program, known as ANPI. The base, home to satellite operations and missile warning systems that feed directly into the nation’s strategic defense network, would host a fixed, contractor-owned and contractor-operated microreactor designed to supply steady, around-the-clock power independent of the civilian grid.
The selection, reported in April 2026 through defense-sector outlets, has not yet been accompanied by a formal DoD press release naming Buckley specifically. But the policy machinery driving the project forward is well documented and moving fast.
Executive orders set the stage
The clearest policy driver is Executive Order 14299, signed on May 23, 2025, and titled “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security.” The order directs the DoD and the Department of Energy to accelerate placement of advanced nuclear technology on military installations, establishes contracting authorities, and frames on-base reactors as critical infrastructure protection.
That order built on a series of earlier White House actions. In January 2025, the administration issued a presidential declaration of a national energy emergency, followed by a directive focused on unleashing American energy production. An April 2025 action addressed modernizing defense acquisitions. Together, these created the legal and financial architecture that makes a project like Buckley’s microreactor possible on a compressed timeline.
Microreactors, explained briefly
A microreactor is a nuclear fission system typically designed to produce between one and 20 megawatts of electric power, enough to run a large military installation or a small town. Compared with a conventional commercial reactor that generates roughly 1,000 megawatts, a microreactor is physically compact, often factory-built, and engineered with passive safety features that do not rely on human operators or external power to shut down safely.
The DoD is pursuing two distinct microreactor tracks. Project Pele is a mobile prototype intended for transportable energy resiliency. The Department of Energy confirmed that the DoD broke ground on Project Pele at Idaho National Laboratory, and that effort is subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight alongside DOE and national laboratory involvement.
ANPI is fundamentally different. It places a fixed reactor on a permanent base, owned and operated not by the military but by a private contractor. A mobile reactor can be shipped to a forward operating base or disaster zone. A fixed reactor is engineered to supply baseload power to a permanent facility, potentially “islanding” the base from wider grid disruptions caused by cyberattacks, extreme weather, or physical sabotage.
Why Buckley matters strategically
Buckley Space Force Base hosts the 460th Space Wing and supports space-based infrared missile warning sensors that are central to U.S. early-warning defense. A prolonged power outage at the base would not just darken office buildings; it could degrade the nation’s ability to detect incoming threats. That makes Buckley a high-priority candidate for energy hardening, and it fits neatly into the administration’s argument that critical defense nodes should not depend on a civilian grid vulnerable to disruption.
For Aurora, a city of roughly 400,000 people, the project raises questions that go beyond national security strategy. A permanently operating reactor on the eastern edge of the metro area implicates local first responders, municipal planners, and state regulators in ways that a temporary demonstration at a remote federal lab does not.
What remains unknown
Key details about the Buckley project have not been confirmed through primary institutional sources as of late April 2026. The identity of the contractor selected to build and operate the reactor has not been publicly announced. The specific reactor design, its power output, and the expected operational timeline are all absent from institutional documents reviewed. Without those details, it is difficult to assess how much power the reactor would supply to Buckley’s missions or when it would come online.
No site-specific environmental impact assessment or NRC licensing filing for the Buckley installation has appeared in publicly available records. Executive Order 14299 references both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Atomic Energy Act, meaning any reactor sited at Buckley will need to clear environmental review and nuclear licensing hurdles. The executive order establishes intent and contracting authority, but it does not override the statutory review process.
Direct statements from Buckley base commanders or Department of the Air Force officials about community engagement plans, construction timelines, or emergency preparedness coordination have not surfaced publicly. Federal law requires coordination among installation commanders, local fire and medical services, and state emergency management agencies for any significant nuclear facility. Until formal environmental review documents or licensing filings appear, specifics about evacuation zones, monitoring systems, and communication protocols remain unavailable.
What Aurora residents should watch for
The federal government has clearly signaled that advanced nuclear reactors are moving from concept to deployment on military installations, backed by explicit executive orders and an active demonstration project at Idaho National Laboratory. Buckley Space Force Base appears in reporting as an early beneficiary of that push, though the absence of a site-specific primary announcement leaves room for plans to shift as details evolve.
Residents, local officials, and community groups will want to track several milestones: a formal DoD or Air Force announcement confirming the site selection, the naming of a contractor and reactor design, the filing of an NRC license application, and the release of a National Environmental Policy Act review. Each of those steps will open a window for public comment and independent evaluation of safety, waste management, and the allocation of risk between the base and the surrounding community.
Until those documents surface, the strongest available evidence points in one direction: Washington is building the policy, legal, and financial framework to put a nuclear microreactor at Buckley, and the timeline is designed to move quickly. Whether the community around the base gets a meaningful voice in that process will depend on how transparently the next steps unfold.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
