Amazon nuclear plant plans advanced on October 19, 2026, when Amazon, X-energy, and American Electric Power announced an agreement to evaluate building a 960-megawatt advanced nuclear plant in Sullivan County, Indiana. Amazon will fund the project’s development and intends to purchase its power under a long-term contract, the companies said.
The three companies would target building 12 of X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactors at the former Breed Generating Station coal site, which they say would add 960 megawatts of carbon-free energy serving both the regional power grid and Amazon’s data centers. Each Xe-100 unit would generate 80 megawatts, configured in groups of four.
AEP described the arrangement as a joint development agreement with X-energy, with Amazon supporting the project through a funding agreement. According to AEP’s October 19 news release, Amazon intends to purchase the power under a long-term contract covering the costs of the facility and its operations for the duration of the contract.
If the project reaches a final investment decision and advances to construction and commercial operation, AEP would own and operate the facility, with the reactors added in phases and connected directly to the regional electric grid. The companies expect the project to create jobs and generate local tax revenue if construction proceeds.
Amazon nuclear plant is the second X-energy collaboration
The Indiana project marks the second commercial deployment under X-energy and Amazon’s collaboration, which targets more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity on the U.S. grid by 2039. The first project under the partnership is the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington state, being developed with Energy Northwest.
X-energy, a Maryland-based developer of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel technology that trades on Nasdaq under the ticker XE, announced the joint development agreement alongside AEP in a GlobeNewswire release on October 19. The proposed project would redevelop the AEP-owned brownfield site for advanced nuclear power, adding clean baseload capacity to meet growing energy demand across Indiana and the region.
“With this development plan, we are working to bring together the resources to help meet unprecedented growth in energy demand with reliable baseload power while protecting affordability for existing customers,” AEP Chief Executive Bill Fehrman said. He added that the agreements with Amazon and X-energy would provide “all necessary capital protections and financial safeguards” that the utility considers essential for a potential nuclear project to move forward.
Amazon will provide milestone-based development capital to advance feasibility work. AEP said the agreements would include financial safeguards intended to protect existing utility customers from project costs, a key concern for regulators whenever a utility takes on a large generation project.
Amazon nuclear plant reflects Big Tech’s energy hunger
The Amazon nuclear plant deal is the latest sign that Big Tech’s appetite for electricity is reshaping American energy investment. Data centers powering cloud computing and artificial intelligence need enormous, round-the-clock power, and nuclear offers the carbon-free baseload generation that wind and solar cannot guarantee on their own.
Amazon is serving as a project development funder and would be the first customer to purchase power from the plant once operational. If completed, the facility is expected to support Indiana’s electricity infrastructure for more than 60 years, according to the companies.
The project remains in the feasibility stage and requires a final investment decision before construction can begin. No timeline for construction or operation has been announced, and terms of Amazon’s funding agreement were not disclosed. The Xe-100 is an advanced reactor design still working through development and licensing, which adds execution risk to the timeline.
Industry watchers note that the Amazon nuclear plant effort will test whether small modular reactors can overcome the cost overruns that have plagued large nuclear builds. Success in Indiana could unlock a wave of similar utility partnerships, while delays would reinforce skepticism about the technology’s readiness.
Still, the direction of travel is clear. With the Amazon nuclear plant in Indiana joining the Cascade project in Washington, the X-energy and Amazon collaboration is assembling one of the largest private nuclear pipelines in the country. Whether small modular reactors can deliver on their promise of cheaper, faster nuclear power will be tested first in places like Sullivan County.