February 15, 2026 was a historic day for the United States military and the future of nuclear reactors in the United States. That's the day United States Air Force personnel and civilian contractors worked together to load a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor onto a USAF C-17 Globemaster III, an airplane some call the Moose. It was the first time a nuclear reactor was airlifted by a C-17. The March Air Reserve Base, located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, is home to the 452d Air Mobility Wing, operating a squadron of C-17s among other weapons.
The nuclear reactor, a Ward 250 micro-reactor, fits neatly into the back of the plane, making it easily transportable. The history-making flight saw the Ward 250 transported from March to Utah's Hill Air Force Base, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. From there, it'll make its way to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab where it will undergo more testing and evaluation, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of War.
On August 12, 2025, just six months before the historic flight aboard the C-17 Globemaster III, Isaiah Taylor issued a press release announcing his company, Valar Atomics, had been selected to participate in "the President's accelerated nuclear program." The nation's renewed interest in nuclear energy led to a May 23, 2025 Executive Order directing the US Army to build a nuclear microreactor and provide nuclear energy to a domestic military installation by September 30, 2028, and private-sector programs such as the Ward 250.
Valar Atomics developed its WardZero prototype in Los Angeles months before Executive Order 14301 was signed in May of 2025. The US Department of Energy selected the Valar Atomics Ward 250 as one of the projects poised to "achieve criticality on American soil by July 4th, 2026," as directed by section five of EO 14301.
The 5-megawatt Ward 250 nuclear microreactor is about the size of a large van. The power generated by the small package is enough power to service an estimated 5,000 homes or a sizable military installation. With the rapid-deployment capability demonstrated by the February 15th flight, the Ward 250 will eliminate the need for military operations to rely on civilian power grids or diesel-powered generators anywhere in the world.
The USAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a capable aircraft designed to safely transport cargo and military personnel. While the C-5 Galaxy is larger, the C-17 squadron located at March Air Reserve Base offered close proximity to Valar Atomics where the Ward 250 was built and its capabilities closely matching the payload requirements.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 01, @01:53AM (3 children)
(Score: 3, Informative) by ls671 on Sunday March 01, @04:38AM
My quick calculation gives the 4 C-17 engines about 128MW of power
Everything I write is lies, including this sentence.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Sunday March 01, @04:58AM (1 child)
I've been to the facility in Idaho where they have the hardware from a 1960s program to develop a nuclear powered aircraft. Quite a bit of work went into it before the realization sank in that it was, pardon the technical aerospace terminology, batshit crazy.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 01, @05:48AM
Where it glows so fine
And the mutants are pretty
(Score: 4, Insightful) by gawdonblue on Sunday March 01, @02:01AM (3 children)
Enough said.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 01, @02:50AM (1 child)
No mention in tfs or in the link of the nuclear fuel. First guess, this is the bare reactor, not fueled (yet).
(Score: 4, Funny) by gawdonblue on Sunday March 01, @03:32AM
So this is just a plane carrying a cargo story?
Whoop-de-do, Basil.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Sunday March 01, @04:56AM
If they're sane, they transport it before it's ever gone critical so there won't be the load of fission products that makes reactors so hazardous. Not that a uranium release would be _good_ ...
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Sunday March 01, @06:34PM
Sounds very singular, doesn't it?
https://www.twz.com/uncategorized/this-is-a-nuclear-reactor-packed-into-a-c-17-globemaster-iii [twz.com]
It's actually 8 loads across 3 planes not "a C-17".
https://etvnews.com/articles/local-news/valar-atomics-breaks-ground-on-test-reactor-at-the-utah-san-rafael-energy-lab/ [etvnews.com]
As I understand it, waste gets glassed and the ceramic chunks are considered inert and safe to transport, so the reactor design pre-glasses the fuel so it safe to transport before they even fire it up.
Normal fuel has a very thin metal shell for minimal thermal resistance but this is designed to heat up and cool down real slow. This is a totally different engineering strategy.
It should be safe enough to air transport, safer than the fuel in the aircraft LOL.
"As an aside, the USAF unit involved in the transport, the 62nd Airlift Wing, is the only one currently known to be certified to ferry routine nuclear weapons shipments."
So the people moving this stuff were not a budget cargo airline mixing it in with unlabeled lithium ion battery pallets, instead its the people who usually ferry spicy stuff all day long in their day job. Ferrying something not designed to go "boom" is probably a unique and fun work day for them.
I invest in energy stocks and there's some immense bullshite about this reactor being both 0 watts, 250 KW, and 5 MW all at the same time to manipulate license regulations. Its designed to squirt out 5 MW but is licensed to only fire up to 250 KW for R+D purposes. Getting it certified to light up the full 5 MW will be interesting and is probably part of its little field trip.
Its still cool its just that 99% of "journalist" reports are made off reporting on each other incorrectly rather than looking at primary sources.
Its a cool project.