The Department of the Air Force has selected Joint Base-San Antonio as the site of a nuclear microreactor as part of a pilot program that aims to provide the military with stable power supplies.
However, experts caution that even “advanced reactors” like this come with their own risks.
The San Antonio base was one of three sites chosen for a pilot program called Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI), which endeavors to harness nuclear energy in the name of “energy resilience,” with the goal of ensuring that military bases do not lose power, even in a blackout.
The program was announced in a Wednesday news release from the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, which also revealed Colorado and Montana as the first two sites of the ANPI program.
“The future of air and space dominance is powered by resilient energy,” Michael Borders, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations and Environment, said in a statement. “By integrating advanced nuclear technology, we are not just keeping the lights on; we are guaranteeing that our most critical national security missions will never be held at risk by a power outage. This is a pivotal moment for the Department of the Air Force.”
However, not everyone is convinced that doubling down on nuclear power will solve the energy woes of the United States, or its Air Force.
Joshua Frank, California-based author of multiple books looking critically at nuclear power and other energy sources, told the Current the risk outweighs the reward.
“There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about one of these in your backyard,” said Frank, who also co-edits progressive publication CounterPunch. “First, there is always the potential for accidents. No reactor is ever 100% safe. Second, small reactors still produce highly radioactive waste. In fact, they generate more waste per unit of energy than larger reactors. And remember, we have nowhere to put all this nasty stuff, which will remain radioactive for over a hundred thousand years. It will either sit on site indefinitely or be transported right through the community to another location.”
Frank’s book Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America details the catastrophic radioactive waste crisis at Washington State’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which produced plutonium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal for decades. As a result, it’s also the site of the priciest environmental cleanup in world history at $677 billion.
Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project and decommissioned in the ’60s, the Hanford site has experienced leaking tanks, contaminated facilities and contaminated groundwater, threatening the nearby Colombia River. A half century later, cleanup is still ongoing.
As of 2026, one of the site’s tanks is still leaking an estimated 1.5–3.5 gallons of radioactive waste daily and others tanks are also known to be actively releasing waste, the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology reports.
Frank released Atomic Days in 2022 in answer to calls from some quarters to use nuclear energy to offset fossil fuels and their impact on the environment. Some environmental advocates saw nuclear energy as a miracle fix, which Frank argues indulged in myth-making around its safety and efficacy.
“We’re looking for the answers to a question that vexes us right now,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston last week, the Houston Chronicle reports. “I don’t know how anybody who cares about the environment can’t be for nuclear.”
The ANPI initiative seeks to have at least one advanced nuclear reactor operating on at least one Air Force installation by 2030 or sooner, according to the release. Air Force officials add that next steps will include siting and environmental analyses as part of the National Environmental Policy Act process.
JBSA is partnering with Antares Nuclear Inc. on the project. Founded in 2023, the three-year-old company to has yet to conduct its first reactor demonstration.
“Antares is currently in the final phase of the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program to build a reactor that achieves criticality — a stable, self-sustaining nuclear fission reaction — before July 4, 2026,” according to the company’s website.
Nonetheless, Antares officials expect the San Antonio R1 microreactor to be operational by 2028.
‘Marketing gimmick’
Despite official assurances that San Antonio’s incoming microreactor represents a new form of “advanced” nuclear technology, Frank urged residents not to buy the hype.
“These so-called advanced nuclear reactors are not advanced; that’s just a marketing gimmick,” he told the Current. “They use the same fission process as other reactors.”
Frank added that the San Antonio micro-reactor is also likely to put further strain on the water supply, which is already up against the persistent drought of Texas. It also would come online as the growing data center industry continues to strain the state’s water resources.
“[T]hey’ll require a steady water supply in a drought-prone climate,” Frank added.
Frank’s upcoming book Bad Energy: The AI Hucksters, Rogue Lithium Extractors, and Wind Industrialists Who Are Selling Off Our Future is due out in August from Haymarket Books.
In addition to its potential environmental impact, nuclear power is also more expensive than other forms of power generation.
“[T]here are far cheaper ways to boil water to generate electricity that don’t require huge taxpayer subsidies,” Frank said. “These projects are always expensive boondoggles.”
The cost of reactor construction has also skyrocketed in recent years, according to a report by the Houston Chronicle. As such, NRG has looked to expand the existing South Texas Nuclear Project for years but has held off due to cost.
Subsidizing nukes
In an effort to drive down nuclear energy prices, New York and Illinois have subsidized their nuclear power. State legislatures in Ohio and Pennsylvania are considering similar subsidies.
In June 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 14 into law which established the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office (TANEO) and created the $350 million Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund (TANDF), the largest nuclear investment in the country.
“To power the Texas of tomorrow, we must boost our state’s advanced nuclear capacity,” Governor Abbott said in an early-April statement, announcing that applications to the program were open.
“Nuclear energy provides an efficient and reliable energy solution while creating high-wage advanced manufacturing jobs,” Abbott added. “Through TANEO and the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund, Texas is streamlining the nuclear regulatory environment and making investments to spur a flourishing nuclear energy ecosystem for generations to come.”
Thursday marks the last day nuclear developers can submit a notice of intent to apply for the subsidy program with formal applications due by May 14.
Under TANDF, nuclear projects that build advanced reactors are eligible to apply for the Project Development and Supply Chain Reimbursement Program and the Advanced Nuclear Construction Reimbursement Program.
The Texas subsidy program, like those in other states, is intended to address the higher cost of nuclear power, which will have to compete with the state’s comparatively low cost of its abundant oil & gas and other energy sources.
Texas is also the number one state for wind energy production in the country. And while California is the top state for solar energy production, Texas is at number two and closing in on the Golden State with the most rapid growth the market, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association.
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