--- title: "Amazon invests $500M in X-energy’s 4th gen nuclear tech" url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/amazon-invests-500m-in-x-energys-4th-gen-nuclear-tech/ date: 2024-10-17 modified: 2024-10-17 lang: en author: "Davide Sher" description: "Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, affiliates of Ares Management Corporation, NGP, and the University of Michigan, is investing approximately $500 million in a Series C-1..." categories: - "AM for Energy" - "Industrial Additive Manufacturing" - "Money & Funding" - "Nuclear Energy" tags: - "future" image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/xe-100-plant-640x360.jpg word_count: 906 --- # Amazon invests $500M in X-energy’s 4th gen nuclear tech Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, affiliates of Ares Management Corporation, NGP, and the University of Michigan, is investing approximately $500 million in a Series C-1 financing round for [small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) company X-energy](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/x-energy/). Although this story is not directly related to E-energy's use of additive manufacturing, there are several reasons elements that make it relevant. One is that the company is part of a family of companies, co-founded by Kam Ghaffarian, that we have previously covered in this website, including [Axiom Space](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/axiom-space/), which is [commercializing the ISS (with space-based manufacturing) and developing one of its possible successors](https://www.voxelmatters.com/made-space-axiom-space-sign-joint-agreement-space-based-manufacturing/), and [Intuitive Machines](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/intuitive-machines/), which is targeting Moon colonization (starting with [a recent lander mission that integrated multiple 3D printed parts](https://www.voxelmatters.com/intuitive-machines-nova-c-readies-for-soft-moon-landing-with-a-3d-printed-engine/)). Another reason is that both [small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) and TRISO  fuel are expected to make intensive use of AM](https://www.voxelmatters.com/additive-manufacturing-is-going-nuclear/) (although X-energy has not publicly revealed whether it uses AM technologies for manufacturing either one of them). “Amazon and X-energy are poised to define the future of advanced nuclear energy in the commercial marketplace,” said X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell. “To fully realize the opportunities available through artificial intelligence, we must bring clean, safe, and reliable electrons onto the grid with proven technologies that can scale and grow with demand. We deeply appreciate our earliest funders and collaborators, notably the U.S. Department of Energy and Dow Inc. With Amazon, Ken Griffin, and our other strategic investors, we are now uniquely suited to deliver on this transformative vision for the future of energy and tech.” ![X-energy secures $500 million investment for SMR technology from major players like Amazon, NGP, and University of Michigan.](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/xe-100-reactor-zoom-grey.jpg) "The investments from Amazon, our Series C-1 funders, and valued partners like Dow and the U.S. Department of Energy underscore X-energy’s leadership in commercializing SMR technology and delivering the clean, safe, affordable, and reliable power our world needs now", added Kam Ghaffarian, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Chairman, X-energy. "Reaching this milestone is a testament to the dedication of the X-energy team and the essential energy solutions we’ve built. We remain focused on bringing our advanced reactor technology to market, enabling a future powered by sustainable, zero-carbon energy." The investment from Amazon will help meet growing energy demands by funding the completion of X-energy's reactor design and licensing as well as the first phase of its [TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is rapidly becoming the heart of America's 4th gen "nuclear valley"](https://www.voxelmatters.com/ultra-safe-nuclear-opens-oak-ridge-pfm-facility-for-fuel-manufacturing/). Additionally, the funding will support future carbon-free projects that will use X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, affiliates of Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”), NGP, and the University of Michigan join Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund in the financing round. Amazon and X-energy are also collaborating to bring more than 5 gigawatts of new power projects online across the United States by 2039, representing the largest commercial deployment target of SMRs to date. The efforts will help meet growing energy demands in key locations through direct project investments and long-term power purchase agreements to help power Amazon operations. Further, X-energy and Amazon plan to establish and standardize a deployment and financing model to develop projects in partnership with infrastructure and utility partners. ![X-energy secures $500 million investment for SMR technology from major players like Amazon, NGP, and University of Michigan.](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/xe-100-reactor-slice-scaled.jpg)The companies will initially support a four-unit 320-megawatt (“MW”) project with regional utility Energy Northwest in central Washington with the option to increase that project to 12 units and 960 MW. Amazon is immediately committing a direct investment in the Energy Northwest project to fund early development work that X-energy will perform. “This collaboration between Amazon and X-energy is a significant step toward accelerating advanced nuclear technologies that can help us bring new sources of carbon-free energy to the grid cost-effectively and safely,” said Kevin Miller, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Data Centers. “We need smart solutions that can help us meet growing energy demands while also addressing climate change. X-energy’s technology will be integral in helping achieve this, and is an important step in Amazon’s work to achieve our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero by 2040.” “Nuclear is an important source of clean and reliable power that our nation needs to meet the growing demand for energy,” said Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel, whose affiliate is one of the lead investors in this round. “X-energy provides an impactful solution to a critical challenge – and the support Amazon, Dow, and other major corporations have provided underscores its potential and merit.” X-energy’s pioneering Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor and TRISO-X fuel are among the safest and most reliable clean energy technologies. Each reactor unit is engineered to provide 80 MW of electricity and is optimized in multi-unit plants ranging from 320 MW to 960 MW. The innovative and simplified modular design is road-shippable and intended to drive geographic scalability, accelerate construction timelines, and create more predictable and manageable construction costs. X-energy’s advanced reactor technology offers remarkable efficiency and resiliency to meet the requirements of energy-intensive data centers, allowing Amazon to align its growth and carbon-free energy goals. X-energy is developing its initial Xe-100 plant at Dow Inc.’s UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site on the Texas Gulf Coast. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (“ARDP”), the project will be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in North America, providing the site with zero-carbon emissions power and high-temperature steam. ARDP also supports X-energy’s first-in-the-nation commercial facility to exclusively manufacture TRISO fuel, which DOE calls “the most robust nuclear fuel on Earth.”