Amazon makes vague commitment to unproven nuclear tech to power Indiana datacenters

Amazon backs a new nuclear plant

Amazon is paying for a new nuclear power plant that will feed its datacenters in Indiana. The plant is planned for Sullivan County, on the site of a former coal plant. Amazon is working with X-energy, a startup that wants to build small modular reactors (SMRs). Amazon did not say how much money it is putting in, and it did not say when the plant will open.

Key facts

• The plant would use 12 Xe-100 reactors, made by X-energy.
• Once running, it would supply 960 megawatts of electricity to the power grid.
• Amazon would be the first buyer of the power.
• X-energy says the plant could be finished "as early as the mid-2030s," but that date could change.
• Amazon did not say how much cash it is investing.

Why this is hard to judge

Small modular reactors are smaller nuclear reactors that can be built in factories and moved to sites. Many companies want them, but the US has not yet built a single working SMR. Reactors in the US need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). One path is a standard design approval, which lets a reactor design be built at many sites. Only one US company, Nuscale, has this, and it has not built a reactor. The other path is a site-specific approval for one reactor in one place. Several of these have been given, but none has led to a working US SMR yet.

Why it matters

Datacenters that run AI and cloud services use huge amounts of electricity. Tech companies are looking to nuclear power as a steady, clean source. This deal shows how much they want nuclear power. But the technology is still new, so the plant may take years longer than planned, or may not be built at all.

What to watch

• Whether X-energy gets the needed NRC approvals for the Indiana site.
• Any new date for when the plant will start running.
• How much money Amazon finally reveals for the project.
• Whether X-energy builds its first working reactor.