The U.S. Department of the Air Force collaborated with the Defense Logistics Agency Energy (DLAE) to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for a microreactor to be constructed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The RFP is available at the Sam.gov website. DLAE “enables mission readiness by providing globally resilient energy solutions to the Warriors and the Whole of Government.”
According to documents that accompanied the RFP, the U.S. Government intends to award a firm-fixed price contact for the construction, provision, testing, operation, management, maintenance, and eventual removal of a “nuclear microreactor energy production facility” (EPF) to deliver electricity and steam to the base. The contract will be funded using annual appropriations. The contract term may not exceed thirty years. This term consists of periods for construction, testing, energy production and delivery, and EPF removal.
The EFP will be owned and operated by the contactor. The U.S. Government will purchase its energy output via a long-term contact under a firm-fixed price. The EFP must be able to produce electricity and steam and to meet a baseload electricity demand of five megawatts.
The Assistant Secretary of Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment (SAF/IE) is a civilian office in the U.S. Department of the Air Force. “The office has overall responsibility for installations strategy and strategic basing processes; built and natural infrastructure; facility, process and operational energy; environment, safety and occupational health; and to ensure the sustainability and operational readiness of the Department of the Air Force.”
The SAF/IE said that the RFP was an important first step towards developing the “the next-generation energy technology needed for energy resilience at Eielson Air Force Base and to inform future initiatives to power national security infrastructure”.
Nancy Balkus is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety and Infrastructure. She said that “This program is extremely important to mission assurance and sustainment in the face of climate change and continued national defense threats and demonstrates the department's commitment to ensuring our installations have a safe, reliable supply of energy, no matter their location.”
SAF/IE’s provisional timeline for the project anticipates that vendor selection will take place in 2023. Permitting and licensing will begin in the same year. Construction would start in 2025 with commercial operation commencing in 2027. The reactor will be licensed by the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The EPF has to be able to operate independently from the commercial grid in the area. The ability of the EFP to reduce greenhouse gas emissions make microreactors a promising energy source for remote domestic military installations critical to national security infrastructure, SAE/IE said.
Project Pele is a separate project of U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO). “The SCO is an organization within the Office of the Secretary of Defense which seeks to identify, analyze, and prototype disruptive applications of new systems; unconventional uses of existing systems; and implementing emerging technologies to create operational strategic effects.”
Project Pele is dedicated to building a TRISO-fueled prototype mobile microreactor at the Idaho National Laboratory. The SCO in June awarded BWXT a contract to complete and delivery the Pele reactor in 2024.