SAN ANTONIO — The U.S. Air Force, working with the Defense Innovation Unit, selected Joint Base San Antonio as the third potential location for a nuclear microreactor under an initiative to get an advanced nuclear reactor operating on at least one Air Force installation before 2030. Antares Nuclear was chosen to develop and operate the microreactor.

The Air Force previously selected Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana as potential sites under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations initiative. Next steps include siting and environmental analyses as part of the National Environmental Policy Act process, according to a news release.

Joint Base San Antonio is made up of four primary locations: Fort Sam Houston, Camp Bullis, Lackland Air Force Base, and Randolph Air Force Base. Antares Nuclear is considering Lackland as the site for its microreactor.

Antares Nuclear, founded in 2023, is preparing to turn on its first reactor before July 4, 2026, and plans to test its first electricity-producing reactor in 2027. Tom Mancinelli, head of federal strategy and policy at the company, compared the size of the microreactor to an F-250 pickup truck and said it provides roughly one megawatt of power, enough to power about 250 homes on a hot day. The system is manufactured in a factory and shipped to the site, unlike large-scale reactors that often require multi-year to decades-long construction projects at a single location.

Mancinelli said the microreactor can turn itself off to prevent a meltdown, and the amount of spent nuclear fuel produced during six to ten years of operation would be about the size of a paint bucket. "Nuclear energy is among the safest sources of electricity available today," Mancinelli said. "Everything we will do will be certified to the highest rigorous standards of our regulators, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. And we will absolutely make sure that the system is safe and in no way provides any adverse impact on the community."

Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody voiced support for the project. "We're well overdue for a nuclear renaissance. It's been 33 years since a nuclear power plant was put online here in Texas, and so I think that now's the time. Let's exploit this opportunity," Moody said.

Mari Escamilla, who lives near Lackland Air Force Base, said danger was the first thing that came to mind and that she would probably put her home of 40 years up for sale if a microreactor were to end up at the base. "You can take all the safety precautions, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and things like that, but you just never know. Nothing is guaranteed," Escamilla said.