Amazon Backs 960 MW Indiana Nuclear Plant With 12 X-energy Reactors
Amazon backs a 960 MW Indiana plant with 12 X-energy Xe-100 reactors, while AEP prepares to operate it and regulatory and major execution risks remain.
Summary
Amazon and X-energy announced on October 19, 2026, a proposed 960 megawatt nuclear plant containing 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors at a demolished coal plant south of Terre Haute, Indiana. Amazon will fund development and become the first power customer, American Electric Power will operate the grid-connected plant, and electricity will serve Amazon data centers and the public. The companies’ second commercial agreement is three times larger than their first, announced two years ago. Amazon led X-energy’s $700 million Series C-1 round in October 2024, and they target 5 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear capacity by 2039.
The schedule depends on X-energy first delivering Seadrift, four Xe-100 reactors intended to provide heat and electricity at a Dow Chemical plant southeast of Houston. Construction has not started, although its permit is in the final phases of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission review. Texas is suing the Seadrift plant over alleged habitual noncompliance with water and solid-waste rules and permits. Small modular reactors promise manufacturing economies, but recent U.S. nuclear projects suffered severe cost overruns and delays, while experts say factory benefits can take about a decade. X-energy’s April 2026 Nasdaq IPO priced at $23, gained 27% on its first day, then lost nearly two-thirds. The Amazon deal lifted shares about 10% before trading, but they were down less than 2% at publication.
Positives
- The 960 megawatt project would place 12 Xe-100 reactors on a former coal plant site south of Terre Haute.
- Amazon would fund development and buy power first, while the grid-connected plant would also supply the public.
- Amazon and X-energy plan 5 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear generating capacity by 2039.
- Seadrift’s construction permit has reached the final phases of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission review.
- The Amazon announcement initially lifted X-energy shares about 10% in premarket trading.
Risks & concerns
- X-energy has not broken ground on Seadrift, whose completion is critical to the Indiana project’s schedule.
- Texas is suing the Seadrift plant over alleged habitual noncompliance with water and solid-waste regulations and permits.
- Recent U.S. nuclear plants experienced severe budget overruns and schedule delays.
- Experts say mass manufacturing may take about a decade to deliver meaningful cost and scheduling benefits.
- X-energy shares have lost nearly two-thirds since their April IPO and reversed the deal’s premarket gain by publication.