Amazon funding nuclear plant in Indiana to supply power for grid and data centers

A proposed Indiana power facility

The planned facility is slated for the site of the former coal-fired Breed Generating Station in Fairbanks, in Sullivan County. Amazon, X-energy and American Electric Power have agreed to fund its development.

The project is designed to supply up to 960 megawatts of carbon-free electricity. That power would serve the regional grid as well as Amazon’s data centers.

Reactors and expected jobs

Plans call for 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors, a design still in development and undergoing licensing. The companies have not announced when construction or operations might begin. Amazon says the project could bring 1,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent positions. The company says the reactors could use air, water or a mix of both for cooling, which it says could help limit pressure on water supplies in communities where water is constrained.

Costs and project history

Indiana has also been the site of the unfinished Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant. Work there was abandoned in 1983 after $2.5 billion had been spent, and demolition has continued since 2008.

The financial terms of the Fairbanks agreement have not been disclosed, so the two projects’ costs cannot be compared. No construction or operating schedule has been provided for the new proposal.

Amazon’s wider nuclear plans

Amazon previously outlined the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington, also planned for 12 advanced reactors. Construction there is not expected to start until the end of this decade. Other tech companies, including Meta, Microsoft and Google, are also pursuing nuclear energy for data centers.