Plans launched to repurpose warship nuclear reactors into data centers
A private American company has submitted a proposal to repurpose a nuclear reactor from a decommissioned warship for an AI data center project. If approved, this would be the first time a military nuclear reactor has been converted for civilian use.
AI data centers may soon be powered by retired Navy nuclear reactors from aircraft carriers and submarines — firm asks US DOE for a loan guarantee to start the project | Tom's Hardware
Nuclear Developer Proposes Using Navy Reactors for Data Centers - Bloomberg
Texas developer pitches recycled Navy nuclear reactors as power source for AI infrastructure - SiliconANGLE
https://siliconangle.com/2025/12/25/texas-developer-pitches-recycled-navy-nuclear-reactors-power-source-ai-infrastructure/
Texas-based power developer HGP Intelligent Energy has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy to deploy nuclear reactors from decommissioned aircraft carriers and submarines into an AI data center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
The reactors that HGP focuses on are naval pressurized water reactors, which have been used to power warships for decades. These reactors are designed for long-term operation, and according to the World Nuclear Association, the U.S. Navy has operated more than 100 reactors for over 50 years without a radiation incident, demonstrating their reliability.
The HGP aims to have two reactors producing approximately 450MW and 520MW of electricity, respectively.
However, technology media SiliconANGLE points out that 'while it shouldn't be that difficult to reuse military reactors for civilian purposes, the lack of regulations for reusing naval reactors creates problems. One key challenge is that naval reactors generally use highly enriched fuel and are designed as sealed systems, which doesn't align with the existing Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing framework for commercial power plants.'
If approved, this would be the first time a military nuclear reactor has been converted for civilian use. The cost of this measure is estimated to be between $1 million and $4 million per MW. While this may seem expensive at first glance, it is said to be lower than the construction costs of various small modular reactors proposed by tech giants such as Amazon, Meta, and Google. In addition to being cost-effective, the benefit of this approach is that it utilizes reactors that would otherwise be decommissioned.
HGP plans to apply for a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, and the total cost of the project is estimated to be between $1.8 billion and $2.1 billion. HGP CEO Gregory Forello said, 'We've already established how to do this safely and at scale.'
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