The Amazon startup "Pocket" has received approval to produce nuclear superfuel for next-generation reactors in the United States

Key Points

X‑Energy is a young American company backed by Amazon. On February 13, 2026 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a license for commercial production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). This is the first such case in more than half a century.

Facilities

The license covers two plants—TX‑1 and TX‑2—which are being built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and are valid for 40 years with the option to extend. In 2024 Amazon invested $500 million in X‑Energy to build its own power plants for data centers.

TRISO Technology and Xe‑100 Reactors

1. TRISO fuel consists of multilayer microcapsules made from uranium encased in carbon and ceramic layers. This design provides high thermal resilience and protection against accident scenarios.

2. The capsules are packed into graphite spheres the size of a billiard ball. That is the type of fuel used in X‑Energy’s small modular Xe‑100 reactors.

3. The Xe‑100 reactor generates about 80 MW of electricity and is designed for 60 years of continuous operation.
* Plant TX‑1 can produce roughly 700,000 such spheres per year, enough to power about 11 reactors.

Construction and Commissioning

- Status: construction of TX‑1 is almost complete; it is expected to finish by the end of 2026.
- After construction, the plant will undergo NRC inspection. The inspection may take one to two years, so full commissioning will occur only later.

Limitations and Challenges

Question: What is known about HALEU supply? High-assay uranium comes into the U.S. from Russia; there is no serial production in the country yet. X‑Energy does not enrich uranium.
Scalability: One 80 MW reactor may be insufficient for the most power-hungry AI data centers, which are estimated to need up to 50 such blocks.

Amazon’s Strategic Goals

- Energy independence—supplying its own data centers with electricity from X‑Energy reactors.
- By 2039 aim to reach a capacity of 5 GW using Xe‑100 reactors.
- Implementation—first commercial reactors planned for the 2030s.

Helium as the coolant increases efficiency and safety compared to traditional water reactors. The technology was developed about six decades ago in Germany and is well known among specialists.

Conclusion

Obtaining the license is a significant step toward a “nuclear renaissance” to support large data centers, but the technology remains at the pilot implementation stage. NRC approval opens the path to serial fuel production and further deployment of small modular reactors, which could radically transform IT industry power supply in the coming decades.