Amazon Backs 12-Reactor Nuclear Plant on Old Indiana Coal Site

Amazon will fund a proposed 960-megawatt nuclear plant in Indiana and buy its first power, the companies announced Monday. Utility American Electric Power (AEP) would operate the plant. X-energy, the small modular reactor designer that went public in April, would supply the technology.

The plant would house 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors on the site of a demolished coal power plant just south of Terre Haute. It's the second commercial agreement between Amazon and X-energy — and three times larger than the first, announced two years ago.

How deep is Amazon's commitment?

Amazon has already put serious money behind X-energy. The company led a $700 million Series C-1 round in October 2024. The two companies have said they plan to build 5 gigawatts of new nuclear generating capacity in the U.S. by 2039.

Unlike many newly announced power plants, these reactors would connect to the public electric grid. Amazon says the power would also serve its data centers — a hint at the real driver behind the deal: cloud computing's surging electricity demand.

What has to happen first?

The timeline depends on X-energy delivering its first project: a four-reactor installation at Dow Chemical's Seadrift plant southeast of Houston, Texas, meant to supply the chemical site with heat and electricity. X-energy has yet to break ground there. The company said its construction permit is in the final phases of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review.

Seadrift carries its own risk. The state of Texas recently sued over the site, accusing the plant of "habitual non-compliance" with water and solid-waste regulations and permits.

Why are startups and cloud giants betting on SMRs?

Startups and large cloud computing companies are wagering that small modular reactors like X-energy's Xe-100 will pull the nuclear industry out of its slump. The most recent nuclear plants built in the U.S. suffered from egregious budget overruns and slipped timelines.

By shrinking the reactor, companies like X-energy hope mass manufacturing will keep costs and schedules in line. Even then, it could be a tall order. Experts say mass manufacturing often doesn't start producing benefits for about a decade.

How did the market react?

X-energy debuted on the Nasdaq in April in an IPO priced at $23 per share. Investor excitement drove the stock up 27% on its first day of trading, but shares have dropped by nearly two-thirds since then.

News of the Amazon deal sent X-energy's shares up about 10% in pre-market trading. They were down by less than 2% at the time of publication.

The Terre Haute project now hinges on whether X-energy can clear Seadrift's regulatory and legal hurdles — and prove that factory-built reactors can hit the cost targets the nuclear industry has missed for decades.

By Amara Osei, Business Bearings