Amazon backs nuclear plant in Indiana

Amazon is funding a 960-megawatt nuclear plant in Indiana and will be the first customer to buy its power. American Electric Power will operate the plant. X-energy will supply the reactors.

Twelve reactors at former coal site

The plant will consist of twelve Xe-100 small modular reactors on the site of a demolished coal power plant just south of Terre Haute. The power would serve Amazon's data centers and the public grid.

Deal is three times larger than first

This is the second commercial agreement between Amazon and X-energy.It is three times larger than the first, which was announced two years ago.Amazon led a 700 million dollar Series C-1 round in October 2024.

Long-term nuclear expansion plan

Amazon and X-energy have said they ultimately plan to build five gigawatts of new nuclear generating capacity in the U.S. by 2039. The aggressive timeline depends on X-energy's first plant at Seadrift succeeding.

Seadrift project faces legal challenge

X-energy's first plant at Seadrift, southeast of Houston, Texas, will host four Xe-100 reactors. The state of Texas has filed a lawsuit accusing the plant of habitual non-compliance with water and solid-waste regulations.

“habitual non-compliance”

X-energy stock surges on announcement

X-energy went public in April at twenty-three dollars per share.Shares rose twenty-seven percent on the first day but have dropped nearly two-thirds since.The Amazon deal sent shares up about ten percent in premarket trading.

Mass manufacturing timeline uncertain

Small modular reactors are expected to help the nuclear industry recover from recent budget overruns and delays. Experts say mass manufacturing often does not start producing benefits for about a decade.