Amazon is funding the development of a 960-megawatt nuclear power plant in Indiana and will be the first customer to buy its output. The agreement, announced on October 19, 2026, also involves utility American Electric Power (AEP) and reactor developer X-energy. The project calls for 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors.
The chosen location is the former Breed Generating Station coal plant in Sullivan County. Each Xe-100 has a capacity of 80 megawatts, and twelve units add up to 960. According to AEP, the reactors would be installed in groups of four and connected directly to the grid. The power would serve both the regional grid and Amazon’s data centers, with Amazon planning to purchase it under a long-term contract covering the costs of building and operating the plant.
The project is at the feasibility stage. AEP and X-energy have signed a joint development agreement, while Amazon is providing the initial capital. No costs, construction dates or in-service dates have been disclosed. Construction and operation depend on a final investment decision. Still to be completed are the licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, approval of the PJM interconnection, land rights and engagement with the local community.
The Xe-100 is a high-temperature, helium-cooled reactor fueled with TRISO fuel. Amazon says this combination makes a core meltdown physically impossible, with no need for active systems or human intervention. The plants can use either air-cooled condensers or water-based cooling systems.
The context explains the choice. Electricity demand in Indiana is growing, and reusing a decommissioned power plant site offers land already zoned for power generation and an existing grid connection point. Sullivan County recently joined the state’s Indiana Advanced Nuclear Ready Communities program. Governor Mike Braun spoke of well-paying jobs for the area. AEP says the agreements with Amazon and X-energy include the financial protections for customers and investors that the company deemed necessary for any nuclear project. Its CEO, Bill Fehrman, called them essential conditions for moving forward.
The Indiana project is the second under the Amazon–X-energy collaboration, which targets more than 5 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear capacity by 2039. The first is the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington state. Amazon had already led X-energy’s 2024 funding round, aimed at completing the reactor design and the fuel fabrication facility.
If the final investment decision comes through, Sullivan County could become one of the first examples of a coal-to-modular-nuclear conversion at a scale approaching one gigawatt. The model, with a large private buyer advancing the capital and a utility operating the plant, could be replicated at other retired sites.
