The U.S. Navy is planning to bring the nuclear power of its largest aircraft carrier from ship to shore at some point this summer, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao revealed during a May 14 U.S. House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Cao stated that Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia will be part of a pilot program exploring the concept of an installation “powered from an aircraft carrier.”
“We’re going to export the energy from the aircraft carrier to the base,” he said. The American Nuclear Society first reported the Navy’s initiative.
In a statement confirming the plan, a Navy spokesperson told Military Times that the service “is executing a multi-pronged strategy to ensure the delivery of firm, baseload power to our installations for energy resilience and mission assurance.”
“One line of effort in the strategy is to deliver power from a Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to a compatible shore installation, to demonstrate the capability to meet emergent, mission critical needs,” the spokesperson added. “An initial test of this capability is being planned for later this year at Naval Station Norfolk.”
While neither Cao nor the Navy confirmed the hulking vessel tapped for the assignment, the guinea pig in question is likely the USS Gerald R. Ford, the only Ford-class carrier currently in active service. The sea service’s second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, completed sea trials earlier this year.
The Ford recently returned from a historic 322-day deployment, during which time the ship and its strike group participated in Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East and operations Southern Spear and Absolute Resolve in U.S. Southern Command.
During the May 14 hearing, Cao noted that the possibilities generated by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier could be innovative — with its power being used to fix military bases or to supply fresh, potable water to drought-stricken places like California.
In the same hearing, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle noted that the aim is to create a Navy reactor pilot program comparable to that of the already established Army and Air Force programs.
“We need an overall programmatic champion for the SMR program,” Caudle said. Adding that the Navy needed to stop “dithering.”
“While the Army may be tapped to be the overall lead for it, I see no world in which the Navy is not going to be part of that discussion and bring our expertise through our long-established naval reactors, deep understanding of reactor physics, and understanding safe operation,” he said. “But we need to get a pilot established and a target date and get one going.”
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.