Amazon to Fund 12 Small Nuclear Reactors at Former Indiana Coal Plant

Amazon will fund twelve small nuclear reactors at a former coal plant in Indiana, according to a report by TechCrunch. The deal marks one of the most concrete steps yet by a major technology company to secure dedicated nuclear power for its energy-hungry data center buildout.

The project repurposes a retired coal plant site — a pairing that signals how fossil fuel land and grid connections are being recycled for next-generation nuclear capacity. Amazon did not disclose the total investment amount, the reactor supplier, or the project timeline in the announcement as reported.

What do we actually know?

The confirmed facts are narrow. Amazon will back twelve small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Indiana location, a coal plant that has already shut down. TechCrunch, which first reported the story, framed the deal as part of Amazon's broader push into nuclear energy.

What remains unsaid matters as much. There is no publicly stated cost per reactor, no named utility partner in the initial report, and no committed date for when the first unit would deliver power. That gap is worth watching, because small modular reactors remain a largely pre-commercial technology in the United States.

Why the coal-to-nuclear swap matters

Siting new reactors at old coal plants carries a practical logic. Former coal facilities already hold grid interconnections, transmission infrastructure, and cooling water access — assets that can shave years off nuclear development timelines. The strategy has gained traction across the industry as utilities and hyperscalers look for faster routes to large-scale clean power.

For Amazon, the motivation is arithmetic. Data centers for cloud computing and artificial intelligence consume electricity at a scale that strains regional grids, and the company has committed to matching its operations with carbon-free energy. Nuclear offers round-the-clock generation that wind and solar cannot supply alone.

The skeptic's caveat

Twelve reactors is a headline number, not megawatts on the grid. Small modular reactor projects in the US have repeatedly slipped on cost and schedule, and none of the leading designs has yet completed commercial operation at scale. Amazon's funding commitment — the size of which was not disclosed in the report — will be tested by regulatory review, supply chains for reactor components, and construction realities.

Until a first unit produces power in Indiana, this deal is a promise backed by capital, not by electrons.

The Indiana project will serve as an early test of whether hyperscaler money can accelerate nuclear deployment faster than traditional utility procurement has managed.