GoKawiil
Tech News
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted X-energy a construction permit for four Xe-100 small modular reactors to be built at a Dow chemical facility in Texas. Each unit would generate 80 megawatts of electricity and 200 megawatts of heat, with X-energy saying the plant won't be operational until the early 2030s. The company calls it the first such approval for an advanced reactor at a US industrial site.
Amazon and American Electric Power announced plans for a 960-megawatt nuclear facility near Terre Haute, Indiana, built on the site of a demolished coal plant. X-energy will supply 12 of its Xe-100 small modular reactors, AEP will operate the plant, and Amazon will be the first buyer of its power. The deal is three times larger than a similar agreement the two companies struck two years ago.
Amazon, American Electric Power and X-energy announced plans to build a 960-megawatt nuclear facility using 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors at the site of a demolished coal plant near Terre Haute, Indiana. Amazon will be the first buyer of the plant's power, which AEP will operate, and it marks Amazon's second, and three-times-larger, commercial deal with X-energy following a 2022 agreement.
Bluecore Energy, founded by Kofi Asante and based at the Port of Long Beach, has raised an oversubscribed $50 million seed round just two months after emerging from stealth. The startup builds small modular nuclear reactors mounted on barges that can be moved to ports and nearby infrastructure to deliver clean power quickly without new fixed installations. Silverton Partners led the round, with backing from earlier investors like Slauson & Co., Harlem Capital and Chris Larsen, plus new participants including Collab Capital and HartBeat Ventures.
New reactor designs, including smaller modular units, are being developed to make nuclear fission a more flexible and reliable source of carbon-free electricity. This shift comes after decades in which nuclear power failed to deliver on early promises of cheap, abundant energy following its transition from wartime use to civilian power generation.
Nature reports that the nuclear power sector is increasingly turning to small modular reactors (SMRs) as a way to overcome the cost overruns and construction delays that have long plagued large-scale nuclear plants. These smaller, factory-built designs promise faster deployment and lower upfront capital costs than traditional gigawatt-scale reactors.