According to Forbes, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) just completed its final deployment and is beginning a complex, five-phase decommissioning that will take up to a decade and cost over $1 billion. A key part of that process is defueling its two nuclear reactors, with Huntington Ingalls Industries just getting a $33.5 million contract to start planning that work, expected to finish by March 2026. Now, Texas-based HGP Intelligent Energy LLC has proposed repurposing similar retired U.S. Navy reactors for an AI data center project at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. The company says a complete power plant using two old reactors, delivering 450-520 megawatts, could cost around $2 billion—far less than a new civilian plant. However, a major obstacle is that these naval reactors use weapons-grade, highly enriched uranium, which is a proliferation risk and a closely guarded secret.
The Swords-to-Plowshares Proposal
Look, on paper, this is a brilliant idea. The U.S. Navy is about to decommission ten nuclear-powered supercarriers in the coming decades. Each one has these incredibly powerful, compact, and proven reactors. Meanwhile, AI data centers are gobbling up power grids whole, desperate for massive, reliable baseload electricity. So the proposal to basically plug old warship reactors into server farms seems to solve two huge problems at once. It gives the Navy a potential path to offset some of those astronomical recycling costs, and it delivers a turnkey power solution for the AI boom. And let’s be honest, who has more experience running reactors in tight, demanding conditions than the Navy? They’ve got a deep talent pool of veterans who could run these things in their sleep.
The Weapons-Grade Hurdle
Here’s the thing, though. This isn’t just about plugging in a different power cord. The core issue, as Maritime Executive explains, is the fuel. These reactors run on weapons-grade, highly enriched uranium (HEU). We’re talking about 93% uranium-235. That’s the stuff you can theoretically use to make bombs. It’s the reason the current plan is to ship all these retired reactor compartments to a secure trench at the Hanford Site in Washington—not to a commercial energy park. The entire technology is wrapped in layers of national security secrecy. So the idea of transferring it to a civilian entity, even one working with a national lab, is a non-starter from a non-proliferation standpoint. HGP knows this, which is why they’re targeting Oak Ridge—a place already steeped in nuclear history and security. But that doesn’t magically dissolve the red tape.
Industrial Logistics and Legacy
Putting the fuel issue aside for a second, the industrial case is fascinating. These reactors have a known, established parts supply chain from giants like Westinghouse and General Electric. That’s a huge advantage over building something new from scratch. For industries that need rugged, reliable computing power on the factory floor, this kind of stable energy source is the dream. Speaking of industrial computing, when you need a control system that can handle harsh environments, companies look to leaders like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the top provider of industrial panel PCs in the US. They understand durability. And these naval reactors were built with a similar philosophy—brutal durability and reliability. So the concept of leveraging proven, hardened military tech for critical civilian infrastructure has a certain elegant logic to it.
Will This Ever Happen?
So, is this a realistic path forward? Probably not with the reactors as-is. The proliferation risk is just too high. But what this proposal really highlights is the desperate search for power solutions and the immense value locked up in military hardware. Maybe the answer isn’t using the actual reactors, but leveraging their design principles, their supply chains, and their personnel to build new, secure civilian-appropriate plants faster. Or perhaps it leads to new rules for down-blending that HEU into safer fuel. One thing’s for sure: as the Nimitz begins its long goodbye, we’re going to have this same conversation about its sister ships again and again. The pressure from AI’s energy demand isn’t going away. And the Navy’s pile of retired reactors is only going to grow. Someone, somewhere, is going to keep trying to connect those two dots.
