Week of August 24, 2026
This week’s developments highlight the increasingly close relationship among energy security, emerging technologies, and environmental constraints. Nuclear deployment, grid resilience, data center growth, water demand, and chemical regulation are all creating new opportunities and new legal and operational risks.
Army Plans Major Microreactor Deployment
The U.S. Army plans to invest $2.2 billion to deploy microreactors at five military bases under its Janus Program, with more than 20 reactors potentially installed within five years. The program is intended to improve energy resilience at military installations while accelerating the development and licensing of advanced nuclear technologies, although the selected designs remain commercially unproven. Read more: Utility Dive Article
Restrictions Target Foreign-Made Grid Equipment
President Trump signed an emergency order restricting the purchase, importation, and installation of certain foreign-made equipment and software for the bulk-power system where cybersecurity or operational risks are present. The Department of Energy has 120 days to develop implementing regulations, and the restrictions may add pressure to already constrained electrical-equipment supply chains. Read more: Executive Order
Ninth Circuit Upholds EPA’s New-Chemicals Review Rule
The Ninth Circuit upheld EPA’s 2024 rule establishing procedures for reviewing new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The court concluded that EPA acted within its authority by permitting some persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals to undergo a 30-day review rather than the standard 90-day process and reasonably declined to impose a categorical ban. Read more: Case Miner Copy of Decision
Data Center Electricity Demand Raises Water-Supply Concerns
A Ceres report estimates that power generation serving data centers in seven states withdraws approximately 3.4 trillion gallons of freshwater annually, underscoring the relationship between expanding computing infrastructure and local water availability. The report focuses on withdrawals rather than consumption, however, and some experts caution that including water returned to rivers, particularly water passing through hydropower facilities, could overstate the practical impact. Read more: Ceres Report
Aluminum-Based System Targets Cleaner Data Center Backup Power
Voya Energy raised $35 million to develop a system that uses scrap aluminum as a potential alternative to diesel backup generators at data centers. The technology relies on an electrochemical reaction that the company says produces electricity without carbon emissions, although it remains at the prototype stage and has not yet been demonstrated commercially. Read more: Yahoo Finance Article
AI Power Demand Revives an Earlier Small-Reactor Project
BWXT and Applied Atomics are seeking to revive the mPower small modular reactor project using a $400 million test facility in Lynchburg, Virginia, that had sat unused for roughly a decade. The initiative reflects renewed interest in advanced nuclear power as a potential source of reliable electricity for data centers, but it also faces the cost, engineering, and deployment challenges that have historically limited commercial small-reactor projects in the United States. Read more: International Business Times Article