Amazon funds a 12-reactor nuclear plant in Indiana

A coal plant Indiana retired years ago could get a second life, as a nuclear one. American Electric Power, Amazon, and startup X-energy signed a deal Monday. They'll study building 12 small reactors at AEP's old Breed plant in Sullivan County, Indiana. Together, the reactors would generate 960 megawatts of power. Amazon is funding the work and plans to buy the power.

Each reactor is a 'small modular reactor,' built in a factory. That's different from a traditional plant, poured in place on site. Factory-built reactors are supposed to be cheaper and faster to build. Amazon isn't doing this for environmental goodwill alone. Its AI data centers need huge, steady amounts of power. Nuclear plants run around the clock, regardless of weather. This is Amazon's second such deal with X-energy. Amazon wants more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power on the U.S. grid by 2039. Reusing a retired coal site helps too. The new plant can plug into power lines that already exist.

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Will these reactors actually get built? Small modular reactors are still mostly unproven at commercial scale. None of X-energy's design has run as a full power plant yet. Today's deal is only a feasibility study, not a construction permit. It still needs regulatory approval. The real test is whether this turns into an actual building permit. Not just another announced partnership.