This article is brought to you by: Turner Industries, leaders in modular fabrication, SIPA, and turnkey nuclear solutions for smr companies
The companies have signed a joint development agreement to evaluate a 12-unit, 960-megawatt Xe-100 small modular reactor plant at an AEP-owned brownfield site in Sullivan County, Indiana.
Published by Allstream Insiders
Allstream Insiders Summary
X-energy, Amazon and American Electric Power have announced a joint development agreement to advance feasibility work for a proposed 960-megawatt Xe-100 small modular reactor, or SMR, project in Sullivan County, Indiana.
According to X-energy’s October 19, 2026 announcement, the parties will evaluate a 12-unit plant near the former Breed Generating Station, a retired coal-plant site that AEP owns. Amazon is to provide certain project-development funding for the effort.
The agreement advances feasibility work; it is not a final investment decision, construction authorization or reactor license. X-energy said the project remains subject to further development agreements, licensing and other regulatory approvals, financing, site work and project economics.
What the proposed Indiana plant would include
| Project element | Company-reported detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Near the former Breed Generating Station in Sullivan County, Indiana |
| Project stage | Joint development agreement advancing feasibility work |
| Plant configuration | 12 proposed Xe-100 reactor units |
| Planned capacity | 960 MW |
| Site | An AEP-owned brownfield site |
| Development funding | Amazon is to provide certain project-development funding |
X-energy describes the Xe-100 as an 80-MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that uses helium as its coolant and TRISO fuel. The 12-unit configuration reported for Indiana corresponds to the announced 960-MW project scale.
How the companies describe their roles
The proposed project combines X-energy’s reactor and fuel technology with AEP’s stated power-generation and nuclear-operating experience. Amazon’s role is described as providing development capital on a milestone basis. The announcement does not disclose ownership percentages, a construction budget, an engineering, procurement and construction contractor, or equipment awards.
AEP said any potential nuclear project would require capital protections and financial safeguards intended to protect existing customers’ affordability. Those safeguards are a condition described by AEP, not a disclosure that a completed project-financing package is in place.
How the project fits the X-energy and Amazon collaboration
X-energy describes the Indiana proposal as the second commercial deployment under its collaboration with Amazon, which is intended to bring more than 5 GW of new nuclear capacity to the U.S. grid by 2039. That collaboration-wide figure is not a capacity commitment assigned solely to the Indiana project.
The company said the Indiana proposal would follow the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington State as a grid-scale project under the collaboration. X-energy also described the Indiana project as its third announced commercial Xe-100 project in the United States.
Feasibility work comes before a build decision
The joint development agreement establishes a framework to evaluate whether the Indiana project can proceed. The announcement does not say that the project has received a Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction permit or operating license, a final investment decision, construction authorization, or a commercial-operation schedule.
Its forward-looking disclosures specifically identify potential feasibility, licensing, permitting, site-characterization, financing, supply-chain and project-economics risks. As a result, the announced 960 MW should be understood as proposed capacity under evaluation, rather than capacity under construction or committed for service on a fixed date.
Allstream perspective: A material brownfield nuclear-development step, not a procurement event
Allstream perspective: The agreement brings a defined site, a named utility partner, a 12-unit plant concept and development funding into the same feasibility framework. That combination gives the project more commercial definition than a general SMR ambition and puts a retired-generation-site redevelopment option on the table in Indiana.
But the project is still at an early development stage. The announcement does not establish awarded work packages, contractor opportunities, equipment orders, an approved budget or a construction timetable. Suppliers and service providers should treat later licensing milestones, development agreements and project-specific procurement disclosures—not this feasibility announcement alone—as the indicators of executable work.
