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Amazon to fund 12 small nuclear reactors at former Indiana coal plant

Space1 min read

Amazon will help pay for a planned 960-megawatt nuclear power plant in Indiana. The plant would use 12 small reactors made by X-energy and would be run by utility AEP.

What happened

Amazon said it will fund development of a proposed nuclear plant in Indiana and will be the first customer to buy its power. AEP, a utility company, would run the plant. X-energy would supply the reactors. The plant would sit on the site of a torn-down coal plant just south of Terre Haute.

Key numbers and facts

  • The plant would have a power output of 960 megawatts.
  • It would use 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors (SMRs).
  • This is the second deal between Amazon and X-energy. It is three times bigger than the first one, announced two years ago.
  • Amazon led a $700 million funding round for X-energy in October 2024.
  • The two companies plan to build 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power in the U.S. by 2039.

Some context

X-energy makes small modular reactors. These are smaller nuclear reactors that companies hope to build in factories and then ship to sites. Its first planned plant is at a Dow Chemical site in Texas, but that project has not started construction yet. The state of Texas has sued over the plant's water and waste rules. X-energy went public on the Nasdaq stock market in April. Its shares have dropped by nearly two-thirds since then.

Why it matters

The last nuclear plants built in the U.S. went far over budget and took much longer than planned. Tech companies, including large cloud computing firms, hope that smaller reactors built in factories will be cheaper and faster to make. Experts warn that these savings may take about ten years to show up, so the plan is a big bet.

What to watch

  • Whether X-energy starts building its first plant at Seadrift, Texas.
  • Whether the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves the Seadrift construction permit.
  • Whether the Indiana plant moves forward and when construction starts.
  • How X-energy's share price changes after the news.

Glossary

X-energy
A company that designs small modular nuclear reactors and went public on the Nasdaq in April.
AEP
American Electric Power, a utility company that would operate the Indiana nuclear plant.
Xe-100
The name of X-energy's small modular reactor design.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The U.S. government agency that reviews and approves nuclear plant permits.

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