Texas University To Host Four Nuclear Reactors: 'US Needs More Power'

Four small-scale nuclear reactors are to be hosted on Texas A&M University land, it was announced on Tuesday. CEOs from four nuclear power companies have committed to work with the Texas A&M System to develop prototype and commercial-ready "small modular reactors" (SMRs)—with the first having the potential to be constructed within five years. Smaller than their traditional counterpart, SMRs are designed so that they can be factory-built in parts and assembled at their site of use. They could be particularly useful for remote locations, for industrial applications and powering facilities like data centers. The university says that its accommodation of the reactors will provide the "missing element" needed to bring more nuclear power to Texas. "Plain and simple: the United States needs more power," said Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp in a statement. "Nowhere in the country, other than Texas, is anyone willing to step up and build the power plants we need. Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott and others in Texas state government, Texas A&M System stands ready to step up and do what is necessary for the country to thrive."

The SMRs will be built at Texas A&M-RELLIS, a 2,400-acre technology and innovation campus in Bryan, Texas. According to the university, reactor manufacturers had been struggling to find sites to build clusters of the small-scale fission facilities. Power generated at this "Energy Proving Ground" could be used to bolster the supply of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The university has projected that, together, reactors built at the site will have a combined electrical output of more than one gigawatt—equivalent to a full-sized reactor. The firms involved in the collaboration are Aalo Atomics, Kairos Power, Natura Resources and Terrestrial Energy.

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"We are excited to partner with an innovation leader like the Texas A&M System, and to jointly help shape the future of energy while creating opportunities for research, education and the Texas economy," said Aalo Atomics co-founder and CEO Matt Loszak in a statement. Aalto Atomics is looking to build up to six "pods" at the Texas A&M–RELLIS site; each will contain multiple reactors each with a 10 megawatt output (for comparison, a regular-sized nuclear plant typically has an output of around 1,000 megawatts). Loszak added: "This collaboration is a pivotal step for Aalo as it provides us with a platform to demonstrate the potential of our factory mass-manufactured nuclear technology to deliver reliable, clean energy that will ultimately power the next generation of data centers and AI infrastructure."

"The Energy Proving Ground will allow these companies to safely test their SMRs and set the stage for deploying small nuclear reactors across the country," said Texas A&M vice chancellor for research Joe Elabd in a statement. "The agreements that the Texas A&M System has with Kairos, Natura, Terrestrial and Aalo are going to change the energy landscape for the whole county," said Newsweek has reached out to Texas A&M by email for further comment. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about nuclear power? Let us know via science@newsweek.com. Update 02/05/25, 12:24 p.m. ET: This article was updated with an image depicting the planned Energy Proving Ground.