AI infrastructure company Crusoe and advanced nuclear developer Aalo Atomics are partnering to deploy modular reactors at data centers across the United States by 2029, while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved Holtec International’s plan to replace the shuttered Oyster Creek plant with four small modular reactors totaling 1.4 gigawatts — more than double the original facility’s output. Together, these moves mark the clearest signal yet that advanced nuclear is transitioning from demonstration projects to commercial deployment, driven by the voracious and firm power demands of artificial intelligence workloads.
Aalo Atomics, one of just four companies to achieve criticality under the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program, brings a sodium-cooled fast reactor design that operates at higher temperatures and lower pressures than conventional light-water units. That profile suits data center campuses, where waste heat can be recycled for cooling and the compact footprint eases siting near population centers. Crusoe, which specializes in energy-intensive compute for AI training and bitcoin mining, has built or planned facilities nationwide — giving Aalo a ready-made customer base and a pathway to series production that has eluded many advanced reactor ventures.
The Holtec approval at Oyster Creek carries a different but equally important implication: the reuse of existing nuclear sites. The NRC’s green light for site preparation means a former boiling water reactor location in New Jersey can host next-generation SMRs without the greenfield licensing burden. Holtec’s SMR-300 design, a pressurized water reactor scaled to 300 megawatts per unit, leverages established supply chains and a familiar regulatory framework. Targeting 2036 for commercial operation, the project demonstrates how retired nuclear assets can become anchors for new capacity, preserving grid interconnections and community relationships.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ $4 billion raise — the largest private fusion funding round to date — underscores that capital is flowing across the advanced nuclear spectrum. Yet the company’s acknowledgment that an initial public offering remains years away highlights the timeline gap between fission’s near-term commercialization and fusion’s longer horizon. For investors and grid planners, the takeaway is consistent: fission-based SMRs and advanced reactors are the only nuclear technologies positioned to meet the 2030s power demand surge, and the first commercial contracts are now being signed.
Read the full report at Energy Central.