par energy_isere » 18 oct. 2025, 11:46
Amazon has released a series of images of how its planned X-energy small modular reactor plant - to be named the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility - will look as it gave an update on progress a year after announcing its investment plans.
16 October 2025
The online shopping and web services giant, together with Washington state utility Energy Northwest and technology developer X-energy aim to build up to 12 small modular reactors (SMRs) near Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station.
Amazon is one of a growing number of data centre operators - including Microsoft, Google and Meta - choosing nuclear energy as a way to get reliable energy that is carbon-free.
The first phase is for four SMRs to make up the initial 320 MW block - in a blog post Amazon says that construction is "currently expected to start by the end of this decade, with operations targeted to start in the 2030s".
The eventual aim is to have three blocks totalling 960 MW of capacity (Image: Amazon/X-energy)
Kara Hurst, Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, said: "This project isn't just about new technology; it's about creating a reliable source of carbon-free energy that will support our growing digital world. I'm excited about the potential of SMRs and the positive impact they will have on both the environment and local communities."
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is based on decades of high temperature gas-cooled reactor operation, research, and development. Designed to operate as a standard 320 MWe four-pack power plant or scaled in units of 80 MWe. At 200 MWt of 565°C steam, the Xe-100 is also suitable for other power applications including mining and heavy industry. The Xe-100 uses tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel, which has additional safety benefits because it can withstand very high temperatures without melting,
X-energy says its design makes it road-shippable with accelerated construction timelines and more predictable and manageable construction costs, and is well-suited to meet the requirements of energy-intensive data centres. The initial Xe-100 plant is being developed at Dow Inc's UCC Seadrift Operations site on the Texas Gulf Coast, which would be the first nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in the USA.
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https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/arti ... osed-plant[quote] [b]Amazon has released a series of images of how its planned X-energy small modular reactor plant[/b] - to be named the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility - will look as it gave an update on progress a year after announcing its investment plans.
16 October 2025
The online shopping and web services giant, together with Washington state utility Energy Northwest and technology developer X-energy aim to build up to 12 small modular reactors (SMRs) near Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station.
Amazon is one of a growing number of data centre operators - including Microsoft, Google and Meta - choosing nuclear energy as a way to get reliable energy that is carbon-free.
The first phase is for four SMRs to make up the initial 320 MW block - in a blog post Amazon says that construction is "currently expected to start by the end of this decade, with operations targeted to start in the 2030s".
[img]https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/images/articles/5d457b82-3b3c-4eeb-839f-2f06f1ec195d.jpg[/img]
[i]The eventual aim is to have three blocks totalling 960 MW of capacity (Image: Amazon/X-energy)[/i]
Kara Hurst, Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, said: "This project isn't just about new technology; it's about creating a reliable source of carbon-free energy that will support our growing digital world. I'm excited about the potential of SMRs and the positive impact they will have on both the environment and local communities."
........................
is based on decades of high temperature gas-cooled reactor operation, research, and development. Designed to operate as a standard 320 MWe four-pack power plant or scaled in units of 80 MWe. At 200 MWt of 565°C steam, the Xe-100 is also suitable for other power applications including mining and heavy industry. The Xe-100 uses tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel, which has additional safety benefits because it can withstand very high temperatures without melting,
X-energy says its design makes it road-shippable with accelerated construction timelines and more predictable and manageable construction costs, and is well-suited to meet the requirements of energy-intensive data centres. The initial Xe-100 plant is being developed at Dow Inc's UCC Seadrift Operations site on the Texas Gulf Coast, which would be the first nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in the USA.
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https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/amazon-updates-smr-progress-with-new-images-of-proposed-plant