Antares to Fast-Track US Military Base Nuclear Microreactors With $470M Injection

Nuclear technology firm Antares has secured $470 million in capital to accelerate the deployment of factory-built microreactors for US Armed Forces installations starting in 2028.

The pool, which consists of $370 million in equity and $100 million in debt financing, will be used to build its proprietary electricity-producing platform Mark-1 next year before fielding systems to defense customers.

The initiative supports Washington’s executive order in 2025, which mandates the US Department of Defense field mission-ready commercial reactors at domestic military bases, enabling self-sufficiency while maintaining operations amid power infrastructure disruptions.

Targeting Reliable and Safe Power Supply

Antares said its microreactors run autonomously for more than six years without refueling, providing resilient off-grid power to safeguard defense facilities against harsh weather conditions and adversary attacks.

In line with the broader Pentagon effort, the company completed evaluations of its Mark-0 reactor at Idaho National Laboratory last month, marking the first time a privately developed non-light-water reactor achieved criticality in the US in over 40 years.

“On June 4th, we won the race to criticality, and now we’ve shifted to the race to commercialization,” said Jordan Bramble, CEO of Antares.

“Our deep customer relationships and committed orderbook allow us to focus our engineering roadmap on one simple thing from here on out — reactors that operate reliably and safely. This focus will guide us to the first microreactor producing useful electricity in a truly commercially viable design.”