Amazon backs Cascade SMR facility to power AI and cloud

Amazon announces plans to develop the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility (Cascade), a small modular reactor (SMR) complex near Richland, Washington, in partnership with Energy Northwest and X-energy.

• Project details and timeline: Cascade will use X-energy’s Xe-100 design; the plant is modular with three 320 MW sections described to make a full 960 MW plant (option to expand to 12 units / 960 MW). The partnership plans four SMRs in the first phase with an initial capacity of 320 MW, construction is currently expected to start by the end of this decade, and operations targeted in the 2030s. Amazon made a capital investment via its Climate Pledge Fund in X-energy to support bringing more than 5 GW of new nuclear energy to the U.S. grid by 2039.
• Partnerships, workforce, and infrastructure: The project is a collaboration between Amazon, X-energy, and Energy Northwest (near the existing Columbia Generating Station). Amazon and X-energy have an agreement with Doosan Enerbility and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. to accelerate SMR deployment. The Department of Energy provided funding for Columbia Basin College’s Energy Learning Center, including an Xe-100 control room simulator expected operational in late 2025. The Cascade facility is expected to create over 1,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs.