Origins of the MN-1 Mobile Power Module
The Concept
The origins of the MN-1 date back 2018 when the concept of a modern mobile nuclear microreactor was conceived by the Futures and Concepts Center, U.S. Army Futures Command at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Unlocking the potential of clean, practically limitless nuclear energy was seen as a means to help satisfy ever-increasing U.S. Army operational energy requirements. This led to discussions between the Army and NASA's Langley Research Center about the feasibility of leveraging advanced nuclear reactor technologies and space-based nuclear technologies to build a microreactor compact and light enough to be truly mobile in an operational environment.
The Design
In 2019, General James Richardson, deputy commanding general of Army Futures Command, was hosted at the University of South Carolina by the university president, Robert Caslen, Jr., a retired Army officer and colleague of General Richardson. During this visit, the concept of a mobile nuclear microreactor was discussed with the future co-founders of MobileNuclear, Mr. Jay Diedzic and Dr. Travis Knight. At the time, Mr. Diedzic was an affiliate of the university supporting Army Mobile Energy and Power (MEP) initiatives and Dr. Knight was Professor and Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department. This discussion launched a university research program, in conjunction with Department of Energy National Laboratories, that resulted in compact nuclear reactor design ideally suited for operational energy requirements of the U.S. Army.
The Company
In 2022, Jay Diedzic and Travis Knight co-founded MobileNuclear Energy to commercialize the compact reactor technology developed at the University of South Carolina and invited Dr. Harry Fair, Dr. Joe Turnage, and Mr. David Winks to join the company. In 2023, MobileNuclear secured an exclusive, global option to license the compact reactor design and is now in the process building, testing, and certifying the the MN-1 Mobile Power Module prototype.
The ML-1 Mobile Nuclear Power Plant
The concept of a mobile nuclear reactor is not new. Over 60 years ago, from 1961 to 1965, the U.S. Army embarked on a project to build a truck-mounted nuclear reactor to provide power for tactical operations centers, field hospitals, supply depots, and mobile radars and air defense systems. Unfortunately, as budget priorities shifted to the war in Vietnam, the project was abandoned.
Watch the video to learn more about the fascinating story of ML-1.