[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2389 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2389
To require the Secretary of the Army to carry out a pilot program to
provide resilient energy to critical infrastructure of installations of
the Army through the use of advanced nuclear reactors, to authorize
multi-year contracts for such reactors, and to include nuclear energy
and technology as a covered technology category for the Office of
Strategic Capital of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 23, 2025
Mr. Kim (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Army to carry out a pilot program to
provide resilient energy to critical infrastructure of installations of
the Army through the use of advanced nuclear reactors, to authorize
multi-year contracts for such reactors, and to include nuclear energy
and technology as a covered technology category for the Office of
Strategic Capital of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Advanced Reactor Modernization for
Operational Resilience Act of 2025'' or the ``ARMOR Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE RESILIENT ENERGY TO CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE OF INSTALLATIONS OF THE ARMY.
(a) Pilot Program Required.--The Secretary of the Army (in this
section referred to as the ``Secretary''), in conjunction with the
Director of the Defense Innovation Unit, shall carry out a pilot
program to provide resilient energy to critical infrastructure of
installations of the Department of the Army through the deployment of a
fixed facility advanced nuclear micro-reactor or small modular reactor
(in this section referred to as the pilot program).
(b) Locations.--The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program at
installations in the United States under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary that are identified by the Secretary for purposes of the
pilot program.
(c) Objectives.--The objective of the pilot program is to develop
and provide a source of resilient energy for critical infrastructure of
installations of the Department of the Army selected under subsection
(b) by not later than December 31, 2030, utilizing a fixed facility
advanced nuclear reactor.
(d) Considerations.--In carrying out the pilot program, the
Secretary shall consider whether a fixed facility advanced nuclear
reactor under the pilot program--
(1) should be owned and operated by a contractor;
(2) should be licensed as a commercial reactor by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with advice and consent of the
Secretary; or
(3) as feasible and consistent with military requirements,
should be co-located with artificial intelligence
infrastructure and data centers.
(e) Capabilities.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary
shall ensure that a fixed facility advanced nuclear reactor under the
pilot program--
(1) is capable of power generation output of up to 300
megawatts; and
(2) as feasible and consistent with military requirements,
is capable of connecting to the commercial grid in order to
sell excess energy pursuant to section 2916 of title 10, United
States Code.
(f) Licensing Priority.--Licensing of advanced reactors covered
under the pilot program shall, consistent with the Accelerating
Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024
(division B of Public Law 118-67; 138 Stat. 1448), be prioritized by
the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
(g) Expansion of Pilot Program.--Upon request to the Secretary of
Defense, and with notice to the congressional defense committees (as
defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code), the
Secretary of another military department may participate in the pilot
program to provide resilient energy to critical infrastructure at
installations under the jurisdiction of that Secretary through the
deployment of a fixed facility advanced nuclear micro-reactor or small
modular reactor.
(h) Funding.--All costs of the pilot program may be paid from any
appropriation available for the purposes of the pilot program.
(i) Termination Date.--The authority to develop and construct a
fixed facility advance nuclear micro-reactor or small modular reactor
under this section shall terminate on December 31, 2035.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY FOR MULTI-YEAR CONTRACTS FOR ENERGY FROM ADVANCED
NUCLEAR REACTORS.
Subchapter II of chapter 173 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 2922K. Multi-year contracts for energy from advanced nuclear
reactors
``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of a
military department may enter into a contract or contracts for a
duration of not more than 50 years for the operation of an energy
production facility through the use of an advanced nuclear reactor, as
that term is defined in section 951(b)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271(b)(1)).
``(b) Funding.--The costs of any contract under this section may be
paid from any appropriation available for that purpose.
``(c) Consideration.--As part of any consideration under a contract
made under this section for the operation of an energy production
facility, the Secretary of a military department may include the value
of land leased for the siting of the energy production facility.''.
SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF COVERED TECHNOLOGY CATEGORY FOR OFFICE OF
STRATEGIC CAPITAL.
Section 149(e)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(HH) Nuclear energy.
``(II) Nuclear technologies.''.
<all>