Strong heads state congressional delegation in letter boosting Redstone as site for Army microreactor program

WASHINGTON — Putting political differences aside, Alabama’s congressional delegation is on a mission to bring a Microreactor Power Plant to Redstone Arsenal.

U.S. Rep. Dale Strong headed up the lawmakers in a letter to the Secretary of the Army today touting the qualifications of Redstone to host the plant as part of the Army’s Project Janus. 

“Redstone Arsenal has the people, the expertise, the infrastructure, and the mission set to ensure Project Janus’ success,” said Strong (R-Huntsville). “North Alabama is ready to support this pilot program, and I will continue working to ensure Redstone remains at the top of the list.”

The Janus Program, the Army’s next-generation nuclear power program, aims to deliver secure, resilient, and reliable energy to support national defense installations and critical missions, the Army said last week in announcing the project.

The strategic effort will help provide secure, resilient, and reliable energy to power military installations, independent of the commercial grid, the Army said.

“A Federal Center of Excellence, [Redstone Arsenal] is home to approximately 65 tenant units across the federal government and a workforce of almost 46,000 personnel. Selecting [Redstone] as a site for Project Janus would benefit not only the U.S. Army, but also the Joint Force and interagency partners, including NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, FBI Redstone, and U.S. Space Command,” read the letter, in part, to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. “The installation’s core mission areas include space operations and missile defense, RDT&E, intelligence, and homeland defense, which are among the nation’s most critical, making the energy resilience provided by the [microreactor] essential for uninterrupted operations.”

Along with Strong, the letter was signed by Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and Katie Britt (R-Montgomery); and Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), Barry Moore (R-Enterprise), Mike Rogers (R-Weaver), Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), Shomari Figures (D-Mobile) and Gary Palmer (R-Hoover).

Redstone Arsenal is one of nine installations under consideration to host aMicro-Reactor Power Plant. The others are Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Drum, Fort Hood, Fort Wainwright, Holston Army Ammunition Plant and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The Army said the rollout of Janus technology will occur in stages in a “learn-as-you-go” process for “safe, efficient implementation.”

“The Janus Program is taking its first step toward pairing specific nuclear reactor designs to specific U.S. Army installations,” said Dr. Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. “We will move to bending metal as quickly as possible, leveraging the enormous amount of technical talent gathered to execute this program.”