AEP, X-energy and Amazon line up a 960-MW SMR study at a retired Indiana coal site
From the Energy digest for 2026-10-19
What happened: On October 19, 2026, World Nuclear News (~9:35 AM ET), Utility Dive (~9:54 AM ET) and POWER (~9:59 AM ET) reported that American Electric Power (AEP) and X-energy signed a joint development agreement to evaluate a 960-MW nuclear project at the former Breed coal plant site in Sullivan County, Indiana. The project as scoped would be a 12-reactor deployment of X-energy's Xe-100 small modular reactors — the second deployment under Amazon and X-energy's collaboration. Amazon is supporting the project's development through funding, and if the project proceeds Amazon would purchase the power under a long-term contract covering the cost of the facility and its operations — a structure POWER reports is designed to protect existing utility customers from project costs.
What's genuinely new: A debut — a new storyline, not a development. On the record to date, Amazon's tie to X-energy runs only through its standing $500 million investment (September 2026), and the hyperscaler-nuclear thread tracks PPA-funded uprates of existing plants; a utility–vendor joint development agreement for a new build at a retired coal site opens a separate lane. It is also evaluation-stage by its own terms: a feasibility assessment, not a licensed or financed project.
Watch: The progression from joint development agreement to siting and licensing steps, the long-term power-purchase terms, and Indiana's regulatory path — the state became an NRC Agreement State in late September 2026.
Links: World Nuclear News · Utility Dive · POWER Magazine