A US national lab is helping build the small nuclear reactor that could power AI data centers
Nuclear startup ARC Clean Technology has signed a strategic partnership with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to support the first deployment of its ARC-100 reactor from initial design through eventual decommissioning. The 100-megawatt sodium-cooled reactor is aimed squarely at data centers and AI infrastructure that need around-the-clock baseload power — a market where demand is projected to hit 1,000 terawatt-hours a year by 2026, per the IEA.
The reactor and what INL brings
The ARC-100 is a small modular reactor (SMR) — a compact nuclear plant designed to generate steady, weather-independent electricity in a much smaller footprint than a conventional nuclear station. Unlike solar or wind, it runs 24/7 regardless of conditions, which is exactly what hyperscale data centers want.
INL, operated by the Battelle Energy Alliance and home to some of the most advanced nuclear test infrastructure in the world, will provide materials evaluation, computer modeling, radiation testing, and safety analysis. For final qualification, ARC gets access to INL's Advanced Test Reactor and Transient Reactor Test Facility — hardware that can stress-test reactor components under extreme conditions before a single kilowatt reaches the grid. Every task under the agreement requires sign-off from the US Department of Energy, adding a layer of federal oversight that should reassure both regulators and investors.
Illustration of the ARC-100 small modular reactor. Image: ARC Clean Technology
The partnership builds on an earlier program, Advanced Reactor Concepts 2020, which saw INL researchers work on ARC-100 fuel development and early engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Canada first, US timeline still unclear
The most concrete deployment target remains in Canada: a demonstration unit in New Brunswick is aimed at commissioning in 2029, after the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission completed its Vendor Design Review Phase II. According to ANS / Nuclear Newswire, the INL partnership is explicitly framed around supporting that first-of-a-kind deployment.
On the US side, no site has been selected and no NRC licensing timeline has been announced. Potential locations — Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah — tend to cluster around existing nuclear infrastructure or retiring coal plants, reflecting DOE preferences. Cost estimates for comparable first-of-a-kind SMRs run $6,000–$10,000 per kilowatt, and fuel supply is a real constraint: Centrus Energy is currently the sole US producer of the high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) that sodium-cooled reactors require, with production capacity of just 6 metric tons per year at its Piketon, Ohio facility.
Worth watching, not banking on yet
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft collectively committed more than $200 billion in data center capital expenditure in 2026, but only token sums have flowed to SMR startups so far. As Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists notes, first-of-a-kind reactors are unlikely to close the grid capacity gap before 2035. The INL partnership is a meaningful technical milestone, but commercial power delivery remains years away.