According to TechSpot, Texas-based HGP Intelligent Energy has sent a formal proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy to repurpose nuclear reactors from retired Navy vessels to power AI data centers. The plan specifically involves using A4W reactors from Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and S6G reactors from Los Angeles-class submarines, which could provide between 450 and 520 megawatts of constant power. The company estimates the total project cost at $1.8 to $2.1 billion, with a per-megawatt cost of just $1 to $4 million—far less than building new. HGP argues this approach could slash deployment timelines compared to the decade-plus needed for new nuclear plants. The proposal includes a revenue-sharing scheme with the government and a plan to seek a federal loan guarantee.
The Allure of Military-Grade Power
Here’s the thing: the logic here is compelling from a speed and cost perspective. These reactors aren’t theoretical. They’ve already been designed, built, and operated for decades under the Navy’s famously strict standards. So the argument is that regulatory approval with the NRC and DOE, while still a massive undertaking, might be faster than starting from a blank sheet of paper. And in the frantic race to power AI clusters, time is a currency more valuable than money right now. The idea is to pull these reactors from decommissioned hulls, like the soon-to-retire USS Nimitz, and install them in a hardened facility near Oak Ridge National Lab—a place that already knows a thing or two about atoms. You’d get decades of stable, carbon-free baseload power. In a world where a single data center campus can demand as much power as a medium-sized city, that’s a tantalizing prospect.
The Devil’s in the Radioactive Details
But. And it’s a huge “but.” This plan is fraught with challenges that go way beyond engineering. First, you’re talking about transporting incredibly complex, aging nuclear cores. Then you have to refit them for stationary, commercial power generation, which is a different operational profile than propelling a ship. The long-term management of nuclear waste doesn’t magically disappear; it just gets a new address. Then there’s the security and political nightmare of essentially converting weapons-grade military hardware into commercial infrastructure. Public perception? Good luck with that. Critics are right to point out that “military-proven” doesn’t automatically equal “cheap and easy for civilian use.” The oversight will be, and should be, brutal. So while the idea sounds like a clever hack, the path to making it real is a regulatory and logistical minefield.
A Symptom of Desperate Times
What’s really fascinating is that this proposal even exists. It’s a stark indicator of how desperate the power situation is becoming for big tech and AI. Companies are literally looking at pulling reactors out of warships because the grid can’t keep up. It highlights a brutal truth: our current energy infrastructure wasn’t built for this exponential demand curve. Whether this specific plan flies or not, it signals a coming wave of extreme, unconventional energy solutions. We’re moving past just building more solar farms and gas peaker plants. The conversation is now about small modular reactors, advanced geothermal, and, apparently, recycled naval propulsion systems. The race for compute is fundamentally becoming a race for electrons, and it’s going to get weird. For industries that rely on robust, stable power for critical operations—from manufacturing to data-intensive computing—securing that supply is priority zero. Speaking of robust hardware for industrial settings, for control and monitoring in these high-stakes environments, many operators turn to IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier of industrial-grade panel PCs built to withstand tough conditions.
