One day after we observed that only a boom in onsite, "behind the meter" power supply energizing America's hundreds (soon thousands) of data centers - i.e., small/micro modular reactors or gas tubines not connected to the broader power grid - would allow the US to dominate the AI "arms race" between Washington and Beijing without sending electric bills skyrocketing...

... modular reactor developer Nano Nuclear announced a feasibility study in coordination with California-based industrial conglomerate, BaRupOn, for the deployment of up to 1 GWe of nuclear energy using Nano’s Kronos high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) reactor design, profiled here a month ago. The Kronos design is rated to 15 MWe, which could mean as many as 70 reactors would be deployed at BaRupOn’s Liberty American Multi-Sourced Power (LAMP) and Innovation Hub being developed in Texas.

The LAMP project is a major data center campus with a multi-source, energy design, very similar to the Matador project being developed by Fermi America. LAMP is a 701-acre manufacturing and AI data-center developement near Houston. It’s being designed as a multi-domain innovation hub focused on AI computing, robotics and autonomous systems, advanced materials engineering, defense technology development, and next-generation industrial research and development

“AI and data center growth are outpacing grid expansion nationwide,” said Derek Matthews, Chief Strategy Officer of BaRupOn LLC. “We believe microreactors are the only realistic pathway to protecting our operational continuity while scaling to meet future demand.”

Obviously, we agree.

As part of the feasibility process, Nano will evaluate the site's projected power demand, reactor integration requirements, and the suitability of available land and site access for deployment of many Kronos units directly on the LAMP property. BaRupOn will in turn compensate NANO Nuclear for completion of the assessment.

Echoing concerns that a majority of US regional power markets are already at or below critical capacity levels...

... BaRupOn has forecast that - with rapidly increasing compute demand across the industry - a significant and accelerating power squeeze in Texas and across the U.S. is imminent, particularly as the tech industry’s high-performance computing and digital processing require exponentially larger electricity baseloads.

Recognizing the urgency of future power constraints, and the risks they pose to long-term data center uptime, BaRupOn has expressed its willingness to co-invest directly into the construction of NANO Nuclear’s microreactors at its site following successful completion of the feasibility assessment.

“This strategic agreement marks the beginning of a broader effort to align ourselves with additional AI and data center projects and position NANO Nuclear to help address the rapidly expanding power needs emerging across the United States,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear. “Completion of this feasibility study would place NANO Nuclear in a strong position to serve the accelerating demand from high-energy-intensive sectors. We expect our collaboration with BaRupOn to help ensure that advanced reactor technologies like our KRONOS MMR will play an essential role in supporting the nation’s evolving energy mix.”

It wasn't just good news for publicly traded makers of high temperature gas-cooled reactor reactors: earlier today privately held X-energy completed its latest funding round, lead by cryptocurrency specialist Jane Street (which spawned Sam Bankman Fried and his countless crypto-rigging algos), for $700 million. New investors to the nuclear reactor developer include ARK Invest, Galvanize, Hood River Capital Management, Point 72, Reaves Asset Management and XTX Ventures.

X-energy is currently working on three major projects across the US and UK. Their largest project, with Centrica, was announced during Trump’s visit to the UK along with a slew of other nuclear industry coordination efforts.

The two companies are exploring the potential for up to 6 GWe of nuclear power using X-energy’s Xe-100 reactor. The high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is rated to 80 MWe and is designed to be deployed individually or in four-packs for a total of 320 MWe. The project with Centrica has the potential for about 75 reactors or 18 four-packs.

Their biggest financial backer, Amazon, is coordinating a mega-project with X-energy in Washington state, called the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility. Originally only planned for a single four-pack, Amazon announced last month that they are increasing the power plant to 12 reactors for a total of 960 MWe. Their most progressed project is a four reactor power plant for a Dow Chemical facility in Texas. The construction permit is currently under review by the NRC.

X-energy is one of the senior reactor developers in the private sector, where they have developed a supply chain to support construction of their reactors and their TRISO-X fabrication facility. Partnerships have included coordination with Curtiss-Wright, BWXT, and Doosan Energy.