The Department of the Navy (DON), which comprises both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, issued a request for information this week on potential deployment of clean energy generation on underutilized military lands.

State regulators will study the economic and technical feasibility of adding advanced nuclear technology in Florida.

The directive was included in a sweeping energy bill, House Bill 1645, passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Florida Public Service Commission must issue a report to the governor and legislative leaders by April 1, 2025, with findings and recommendations to support new nuclear in the state—specifically including military bases.

At the end of the 1950’s the US Army was looking at its entire operational sphere to determine in what areas nuclear energy could be of benefit. While many of these are fairly well known today – for example, the small nuclear plants that were to have been installed at remote locations for powering bases like the Defense Early Warning stations – there are a few applications that remain obscure.

Our ANS Nuclear Cafe Friday Matinee feature this week is a film produced to detail the United States Army’s nuclear power program; it was archived and then put online by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore.