Brief
Amazon backs 12 small modular reactors at former Indiana coal site
Amazon will fund a 960‑MW nuclear project in Indiana, partnering with AEP and X‑energy to build 12 small modular reactors.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Amazon announced on Monday that it will fund the development of a 960‑megawatt nuclear plant in Indiana, becoming the first customer to purchase its electricity. The project will be operated by American Electric Power (AEP) and will use 12 Xe‑100 small modular reactors (SMRs) designed by X‑energy, the company that went public in April.
The reactors will be sited on the former coal‑power plant just south of Terre Haute, where the coal facility was demolished. The agreement marks the second commercial deal between Amazon and X‑energy and is three times larger than the first deal announced two years ago.
Amazon has already invested heavily in X‑energy, leading a $700 million Series C‑1 financing round in October 2024. Both companies say they aim to build a total of 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity in the United States by 2039. Unlike many proposed nuclear projects, the Indiana SMRs will be connected to the public electric grid, though Amazon says the power will also support its data‑center operations.
The timeline for the Indiana plant depends on X‑energy’s ability to deliver its first commercial SMR at a Dow Chemical site near Houston, Texas, known as Seadrift. That site, which will host four Xe‑100 reactors, is currently involved in a Texas state lawsuit over alleged water‑ and waste‑regulation violations. X‑energy says its construction permit is in the final stages of review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Industry analysts note that startups and large cloud providers are betting on SMRs to revive the U.S. nuclear sector, which has struggled with cost overruns on recent large‑scale plants. X‑energy’s shares rose about 10 % in pre‑market trading after the Amazon deal was disclosed, though they were down slightly by the time of publication.
Key facts
- Amazon will fund a 960‑MW nuclear plant in Indiana using 12 Xe‑100 SMRs. (techcrunch.com)
- American Electric Power will operate the plant, and X‑energy will supply the reactors. (techcrunch.com)
- The project is three times larger than Amazon’s first deal with X‑energy announced two years ago. (techcrunch.com)
- Amazon led a $700 million Series C‑1 financing round for X‑energy in October 2024. (techcrunch.com)
- X‑energy’s construction permit for its first SMR at the Seadrift site is in the final NRC review phase. (techcrunch.com)
Sources
- [1] techcrunch.com — originally reported as “Amazon to fund 12 small nuclear reactors at former Indiana coal plant”
