Army Nuclear Power Program - Background

Background

There was interest in the possible application of nuclear power to land-based military needs as early as 1952. A memo from the Secretary of Defense, dated 10 Feb 1954, assigned the Army the responsibility for "developing nuclear power plants to supply heat and electricity at remote and relatively inaccessible military installations." The Department of the Army (DA) established the Army Nuclear Power Program and assigned it to the Corps of Engineers.

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 made the Atomic Energy Commission responsible for R&D in the nuclear field, so that the ANPP then became a joint interagency 'activity' of the DA and the AEC. When the Atomic Energy Act was revised in 1954, Paragraph 91b authorized the Department of Defense to obtain special nuclear material for use in defense utilization facilities. The focus of the Army Nuclear Power Program was on power production facilities while the Naval Reactors Program concentrated on nuclear propulsion for submarines and ships. On 9 April 1954 the Chief of Engineers established the US Army Engineer Reactors Group to perform the missions assigned by DA. Essentially, these missions were to:

• conduct R&D, with the AEC, on nuclear power plant development;
• operate the Corps of Engineers nuclear power plants;
• carry out training in support of the plants;
• provide technical support to other agencies as required;
• develop programs for application of nuclear reactors to military needs.

In a Department of the Army Approved Qualitative Materiel Development Objective for Nuclear Power Plants, dated 7 January 1965, these objectives were stated for the program:

• Reduction or elimination of dependence on fuel sources.
• Reduction or elimination of logistic burden necessary to support conventional power plants.
• Reliable operation.
• Infrequent refueling and maintenance.
• Reduced crew size, with ultimate goal of unattended operation.
• Transportability, mobility, and reaction times compatible with the mission or equipment to be supported.
• Improved cost-effectiveness.

The AEC ultimately concluded that the probability of achieving the objectives of the Army Nuclear Power Program in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost was not high enough to justify continued funding of its portion of projects to develop small, stationary, and mobile reactors. Cutbacks in military funding for long-range research and development because of the Vietnam War led the AEC to phase out its support of the program in 1966. The costs of developing and producing compact nuclear power plants were simply so high that they could be justified only if the reactor had a unique capability and filled a clearly defined objective backed by DOD. After that, the Army's participation in nuclear power plant research and development efforts steadily declined and eventually stopped altogether.