World-first nuclear reactor delivery by US Air Force
The US Air Force just airlifted a complete 5-megawatt nuclear reactor across California to Utah using three C-17 transport planes — a world first for operational military logistics. The Ward250 microreactor by Valar Atomics was broken into eight modules, flown in, and is expected to be fully operational by July 4th, demonstrating that nuclear power can now be deployed like any other piece of military equipment. The bigger picture: the Janus Program aims to make rapid reactor deployment routine for remote bases, disaster relief, and eventually boosting America's aging civilian power grid.