Amazon backs development of a 960-megawatt nuclear project in Indiana

Amazon is committing development funding to a proposed Indiana nuclear plant that would supply both its data centers and the regional power grid. Announced October 19, the agreement with X-energy and American Electric Power targets 12 reactors producing 960 megawatts—but the immediate task is evaluating whether the project can move forward.

A second project, on former coal land

The Indiana proposal follows the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington state, the first project under Amazon and X-energy’s collaboration. The partners aim to bring more than five gigawatts of new nuclear capacity to the U.S. grid by 2039. Indiana would add another planned location to that effort, rather than electricity available to customers now.

X-energy and AEP will evaluate land near the former Breed Generating Station in Sullivan County. The proposal would redevelop the AEP-owned former coal site for nuclear generation. AEP would operate the plant, while X-energy would supply its Xe-100 reactors. Amazon would provide development capital and become the first customer to buy electricity once the plant operates.

Amazon links its nuclear investment to rising electricity demand from electrification, manufacturing and AI. Its account of the project says the power would serve the regional grid as well as Amazon data centers. The proposed capacity is therefore not described as a supply reserved solely for the company’s computing facilities.

Development capital comes with conditions

The joint development agreement advances feasibility work. Amazon’s capital is tied to milestones, and X-energy warns that funding arrangements could end or conditions might not be met. The company also identifies a more basic possibility: the studies may not support proceeding, or the partners may never reach further agreements covering development, construction or operation.

The planned equipment is specific. Each Xe-100 is an 80-megawatt high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor; 12 units would produce the proposed 960-megawatt total. The design uses helium coolant and layered particle fuel known as TRISO. Amazon says the reactors can use air cooling, water cooling or a combination, depending on conditions at a site.

The partners are also addressing who would bear the financial burden. AEP chief executive Bill Fehrman said the agreements would provide the capital protections and financial safeguards his company considers essential for a nuclear project. Amazon’s infrastructure executive Josh Weissman made a parallel commitment about costs to other electricity customers.

Together, we’re looking to develop nearly a gigawatt of carbon-free power for the regional grid and pay our full costs without passing them to others.

Josh Weissman, Amazon vice president of Data Center Infrastructure Capacity Delivery

The first Xe-100 plant is still ahead

Indiana’s development effort comes before X-energy has completed its first power plant. TechCrunch reported that the company has not broken ground at Seadrift, its initial project at a Dow manufacturing site on the Texas Gulf Coast. That four-reactor plant is intended to provide both electricity and industrial heat, making it an important earlier deployment for the technology.

X-energy says the Seadrift construction-permit application is in the final phases of review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That is a regulatory step toward a first deployment, not an operating demonstration. In its Indiana announcement, the company flags first-of-a-kind risks and limited experience operating at the intended scale, including possible design or operational problems.

For Indiana, the remaining hurdles extend beyond reactor performance. X-energy lists site suitability, licenses and permits, financing and acceptable project economics among the factors that could stop or delay development. Amazon projects more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent roles if the facility proceeds. Those potential local benefits depend on turning the feasibility agreement into a buildable project.