X-energy and Amazon Web Services have announced a four-way partnership with Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility to accelerate the commercialization of the Xe-100 modular reactor and deliver more than five gigawatts of new nuclear capacity to the United States by 2039. The agreement positions the Xe-100 as the energy backbone for the data centers driving artificial intelligence.
The Xe-100 is a high-temperature gas-cooled SMR rated at 80 MWe per module, configurable as a “four-pack” delivering 320 MW and scalable up to 960 MW with twelve units. Amazon has already committed over $500 million to X-energy and is partnering with utility Energy Northwest in Washington State, where an initial deployment of four Xe-100 reactors is planned. The TRISO fuel used by the Xe-100 cannot melt even at temperatures exceeding 1,600°C — a defining safety characteristic that sets this technology apart from previous generations.
Doosan Enerbility has reserved components for sixteen Xe-100 units and announced the construction of a new manufacturing facility dedicated to SMR module production. The signatories have committed to mobilizing up to $50 billion in public and private investment by 2039. Doosan’s president, Park Ji-won, described the agreement as “a model of bilateral cooperation in the energy industry,” with explicit reference to the involvement of both the U.S. and South Korean governments.
The broader context is clear. From 2025 onward, the SMR market has moved away from near-total reliance on public funding — such as grants from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program — toward a model in which major tech companies are directly financing the path to commercialization. Google has signed a deal with Kairos Power for up to seven SMRs and 500 MW to be completed by 2035. Microsoft holds a power purchase agreement for 835 MW tied to the restart of Three Mile Island, valued at roughly $16 billion over its full term. The underlying logic is straightforward: AI data centers require round-the-clock power with no interruptions, and renewable sources alone cannot guarantee that level of continuity.
SMRs address a specific technical requirement of data centers: dedicated generation, deployable close to consumption sites, and incrementally scalable. A four-module Xe-100 plant can expand in step with the digital campus it serves. The project at Dow Inc.‘s facility in Seadrift, Texas, is the first concrete example of co-locating an advanced reactor with a private industrial site. The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting this trajectory through its demonstration program.
X-energy’s stock has gained 6.6% over recent trading sessions, with several analysts projecting further upside driven by surging energy demand from the AI sector. If timelines hold and licensing proceeds on schedule, the deployment of the first Xe-100 reactors could set the industrial benchmark for all SMRs in the coming decade.
