The Army is developing next-generation mobile nuclear reactors under a program announced Tuesday. It promises to have “at least one” working reactor by summer 2026 as part of a push to ensure reliable power generation at military installations and for forward-deployed troops.

Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the new initiative, known as the Janus Program, at the Association of the United States Army convention in downtown Washington. Officials said the development and production of next-generation mobile nuclear reactors — some small enough to fit on the backs of trucks — will help advance America’s nuclear industry. That industry, they said, has seen a great deal of innovation in recent years but has been “smothered” by the continued fear of nuclear energy.

Officials said energy resilience is a central goal.

“Janus is the god of the Roman god of transitions,” said Dr. Jeff Waksman, a deputy assistant secretary of the Army, during a panel at the AUSA conference. “This is about the transition from prototypes to fully commercial nuclear power to provide energy resilience for our soldiers.”

During that panel discussion, Mr. Wright highlighted the long history of collaboration between the military and the Energy Department, dating back to World War II and the Manhattan Project.

“The military and the Department of Energy [have] been linked since we started,” Mr. Wright said.

Many of the technologies on display at AUSA will drastically increase the demands for power supply in the field, making the prospect of mobile reactor units an extremely valuable one for the Army.

“What we, the Army, are trying to do is be a convener and a host for American entrepreneurship and American industry,” Mr. Driscoll said, adding that the Janus Program is the next step in that philosophy.

The Army’s Janus Program aligns with a broader push by the Trump administration to accelerate the production of new reactors and to use nuclear power more broadly across the nation, and to do so quickly. Mr. Wright said that he expects to see movement on the program and an actual reactor “before July 4 of next year.”

In May, President Trump announced plans for a “nuclear renaissance” that called for quadrupling the nation’s power output by 2050, including 300 gigawatts of net new capacity. One gigawatt of power can provide electricity to about 750,000 homes. The president’s executive called for the operation of an Army-regulated nuclear reactor at a domestic military installation no later than September 2028.

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