Fermi America Launches Initial Public Offering

• Fermi America Launches Initial Public Offering

• Centrus Sets Plans for Major Expansion of Ohio Uranium Enrichment Plant

• Commonwealth Fusion Systems Lands a $1 billion PPA for its Fusion Reactor

• Pacific Fusion Chooses Albuquerque for $1 billion Nuclear Fusion Site

• Sweden Offers $23B to Finance Nuclear Power Construction

• India Kicks Off Construction of Four 700 MW PHWR

• TerraPower Seeks Nuclear Reactor Deal in Kansas

• Zeno Power and Orano in Deal for Americium-241 to Fuel Space Nuclear Batteries

Fermi America Launches Initial Public Offering

Fermi American announced that it has launched its proposed initial public offering (IPO) of 25,000,000 shares of its common stock. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $18 and $22 per share. Fermi America intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FRMI”. Within this price range the offering will have an expected value of between $450M to $550M.

According to the financial web site Seeking Alpha there will be about 600 million shares outstanding at the conclusion of the IPO, valuing the company at a market cap of $12 billion. Ultimately, valuation would be determined by the market’s response to the offering.

Fermi America intends to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, to support the continued growth and development of Fermi America’s business, to secure personnel, to increase its financial flexibility and for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, procurement, construction and installation of long lead-time items.

According to the financial web site Seeking Alpha, Fermi is seen by investors as a brand-new venture, founded as an LLC on January 10, 2025, “with no existing revenues but ambitious plans to grow into a major power producer and data center landlord on a single mega-site in Amarillo, TX. “

FERMI  says on its website it plans to have a generation capacity of 11 GW by 2038 using gas-fired, nuclear. The firm plans to build both conventional LWR design (AP1000) and small modular reactors (AP300), solar, and battery storage.

Data centers will be co-located on the 5,200-acre site and will receive power behind the meter. The site is located near major natural gas pipelines and fiber data lines. The site is next to the US Department of Energy Pantex plant, described as “the nation’s primary nuclear weapons center.” This could provide hiring and security synergies the company says.

Pantex is the primary United States nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility that aims to maintain the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. It is difficult to see how there would be “synergy” between the nuclear security mission of Pantex and the Fermi project. Perhaps one area would be public acceptance of a commercial nuclear energy venture given the long standing presence a defense related nuclear facility.

Growth Plans

Fermi plans to develop the site in 4 phases, not including Phase 0, which involves site preparation  and utility hook-ups. Amarillo, TX, is not within the Texas ERCOT grid and gets its power from the Southwest Power Pool which is one of the smaller regional grids in the US.

Phase 1 is planned to contain 2.6 million square feet of data center space and 1.1 GW of power supplied through both purchased power from the local utility and on-site temporary mobile gas generation as well as solar and battery storage. Phase 1 is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026.

Phase 2 adds 1 million square feet of data center real estate and 0.8 GW of generation capacity, including permanent gas turbines. Phase 2 is planned to be completed in Q3 2027.

The site goes nuclear with Phase 3, with the first of 4 Westinghouse 1 GW reactors. Fermi has an ambitious 5-year schedule for this reactor which would be unusually fast for the US but would bring the reactor online by Q3 2031 if successful.

Phase 4 consists of additional data center space and additional Westinghouse nuclear reactors and small modular reactors, reaching the site capacity of 11 GW in 2038.

Risks

Nothing of this scale has been accomplished in the US. Risks include uncertain data center growth forecast and ambitious project execution schedule. Data center power demand growth may also not materialize as quickly as currently predicted by the data center trade press.

Seeking Alpha reports that Fermi will have to issue large amounts of debt in future years to finance the construction of the nuclear plants. The cost of each 1,150 MW reactor, if held steady due to economies of scale, at $7,000 to $9,000/kw would require $8.1 billion on the low end per reactor and $10.4 billion on the high end. Overall, the four reactors would have capital requirements of between $32.4 billion and $41.6 billion to complete them by 2038. Higher interest rates or lower power prices could end up increasing or decreasing these costs.

Supply chain bottlenecks are likely for major components and systems including RPVs, steam systems, turbines, and switch yard transformers.

Recruiting and maintaining a construction labor force of upwards of 5,000 people in Amarillo will be a challenge for FERMI and a huge headache for the City of Amarillo which will find itself surrounded by pop up trailer encampments, some built by FERMI, and others ad hoc anywhere there is open space.

The company has ambitious plans to construct the first nuclear plant in five years, but this would be unusually fast for the US. A more likely scenario is an eight year construction period for each reactor. This timeline in consistent with the experience of the UAE at its Barakah site building four 1,400 MW PWRs. Similarly, Roastom is completing four 1,200 MW VVER for Turkey at a rate of one every eight years.

Another issue is where FERMI will get the enormous volumes of cooling water for the planned four 1,150 MW Westinghouse AP1000 PWRs.

There is no major lake, river, or ocean to tap. By comparison, the restart of the Palisades reactor by Holtec is feasible in part because it is located on the shore of Lake Michigan. The restart of Constellation’s reactor in Pennsylvania is made feasible in part because it is located on the shore of the Susquehanna River. The life extension of the twin reactors in California is made feasible in part due to the use of water from the Pacific Ocean. The proposed FERMI plants have none of these types of water resources to tap. This leaves competition for ground water with current users of potable supplies.

Note that by comparison, every large LWR type reactor built so far in China has been at a coastal site for two reasons. First, locating at coastal sites facilitates delivery of large components by ocean going barges. Second, these site decisions access the ocean water for cooling system use and discharge of water from the cooling systems as well as the turbine condensate loops.

Amarillo is located in a desert environment with seasonal swings from high desert heat in the summer to below freezing snow and blizzard conditions in winter. Overall, annual precipitation runs on average 20 inches a year.

Seeking Alpha’s analysis of the IPO also included the observations that government support and a project manager with experience delivering these types of plants overseas are positive signs, but not guarantees of success.

“Any delay in ramping up capacity would also reduce the free cash flow delivery that is needed to pay off the project debt. It will be many years before Fermi is delivering positive free cash flow and in a position to begin paying significant dividends or to cash out early investors.”

Success Factors

Seeking Alpha notes that the company could be successful if the median demand forecast for data centers and power comes true, government support for energy projects continues, and best practices for nuclear plant construction in other countries can be applied to the FERMI project.

Current Investor Contacts

UBS Investment Bank, Evercore ISI, Cantor and Mizuho are acting as the book-running managers for the proposed offering. Macquarie Capital, Rothschild & Co, Stifel, Truist Securities, Berenberg, and Panmure Liberum are acting as bookrunners for the proposed offering. Ocean Wall is acting as an advisor in connection with the proposed offering’s listing on the London Stock Exchange. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. Check with FERMI’s investor relations office for updates.

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Centrus Sets Plans for Major Expansion of Ohio Uranium Enrichment Plant

Centrus Energy (NYSE:LEU) announced plans for a major expansion of Centrus’ uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, OH. The expansion is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and 300 new operations jobs at the Piketon site, while retaining 127 existing jobs, boosting Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) and High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) production.

The firm did not provide an estimate of how much its production of LEU and HALEU would increase as a result of the expansion. The size and scope of the expansion depend on federal funding decisions from the U.S. Department of Energy for LEU and HALEU, and a large-scale expansion would represent a multi-billion-dollar private and public investment into Ohio.

In anticipation of the expansion, Centrus raised more than $1.2 billion in a pair of convertible note transactions over the last 12 months and has secured more than $2 billion in contingent purchase commitments from utility customers in the United States and around the world. Centrus has also announced its collaboration with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and POSCO International to potentially invest in the project. 

Centrus recently submitted proposals to the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a competitive selection process for potential awards to expand domestic production of LEU for existing reactors and HALEU for advanced reactors.

Subject to being selected for funding by the U.S. Department of Energy, Centrus’ expansion plans call for a multi-billion-dollar public and private investment to add thousands of additional centrifuges at its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, delivering large-scale production of both LEU and HALEU. All of the production from Centrus will be in the form of UF6. Reactor developers who want TRISO or uranium metal fuel will have to invest in fuel fabrication capabilities either through investing in their own subsidiaries or current fuel fabrication firms.

In June 2025, Centrus subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating produced and delivered 900 kg of HALEU to the DOE, reaching a milestone for domestic production of enriched material that will be needed to fuel many next-generation nuclear power plants.

Centrus has been working with the DOE since 2019, when it was contracted to build and demonstrate a cascade of advanced centrifuges for HALEU production at Piketon. A follow-on contract awarded in 2022 set out three phases: the first was completed in 2023 with the start of enrichment operations and delivery of 20 kg of HALEU. The second phase requires 900 kg by mid-2026, while a third phase could extend production for up to eight years.

In 2024, contracts were awarded to Centrus Energy, Urenco USA, Orano USA and General Matter to produce HALEU in the US. Russian deliveries are due to end in 2028 under a federal ban.

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Commonwealth Fusion Systems Lands a $1 billion PPA for its Fusion Reactor

Commonwealth Fusion Systems has agreed to sell Italian energy company Eni more than $1 billion worth of power from its first fusion reactor. The 400 MW reactor, called Arc, is expected to open in the early 2030s

CEO Bob Mumgaard said the power plant will be built near Richmond, VA, close to some of the highest densities of data centers in the country. As the crow files, it is just over 100 miles from the Richmond area site to the huge complex of data centers in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC.

The Eni agreement is the second PPA for Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). In June, Google said that it would buy half the reactor’s output. Google has also made an equity investment in TAE fusion but that deal does not involve a PPA with a utility customer besides Google itself.

While Google is expected to use the power to run its data centers, ENI is expected to re-sell the power to other customers. Pricing for the power has not yet been set.

According to a report in Tech Crunch, CEO Mumgaard told reporters last week that CFS’s first power plant, the demonstration-scale Sparc reactor in Devens, MA, is 65% complete. The company has previously said it plans to turn on Sparc later in 2026, and Mumgaard confirmed to Tech Crunch that CFS is “on track to do that.”

“One of the reasons we built Sparc is so that we could actually get the experience of what it’s like to build a nearly full-scale system,” he said. “Arc will be the first of many that’s backed by a supply chain that is primed for scale.”

According to Tech Crunch, CEO Mumgaard said the power purchase agreement, “gives us the certainty of where the power is going to go, what the price is going to be, etc. And that allows us to then take that package to more financial investors in project finance and other areas and start having conversations about what it’s going to be like to actually finance this plant.”

The firm expects that despite having raised more cash from investors than any other US fusion developer, it expects to spend a big chunk of it on the Sparc prototype. Key investors to date include Nvidia, Google Breakthrough Energy Ventures and ENI.

CFS’ reactor design is based on the tokamak, a system in which D-shaped superconducting magnets confine and compress superheated plasma. In that plasma, particles collide, forming new atoms and releasing energy in the process.

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Pacific Fusion Chooses Albuquerque for $1 billion Nuclear Fusion Site

Albuquerque, NM, will officially be home to Pacific Fusion’s first research and manufacturing campus. The California-based nuclear fusion energy company has selected Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol to build its $1 billion facility.

Mesa Del Sol is located approximately 6 miles southeast of downtown Albuquerque (map). It is bounded by the Albuquerque International Sunport along the northwestern edge, Kirtland Air Force Base on the north and east sides, the Isleta Reservation to the south, and Interstate 25 to the west.

The announcement follows the Albuquerque City Council unanimously approving $776.6 million in industrial revenue bonds (IRB), effectively granting Pacific Fusion tax exemptions for 20 years, as well as $10 million in economic development incentives for the buildout of the facility.

In New Mexico, IRBs, which in this case were issued by the council, work similarly to a loan, with a lender purchasing the bond and the developer paying off the debt with revenue from the company.

Albuquerque — known for its research in energy and breakthrough technologies like quantum computing, thanks to Sandia National Laboratories — competed with California cities in the Tri-Valley near San Francisco, which also offered tax incentive packages, apparemtly much less generous than what was offered in New Mexico.The comparative cost of doing business and cost of living in California v. New Mexico may also have influenced the site selection process.

The facility, once built, will be an economic boon for the city. The 225,000-square-foot facility is expected to offer over 200 long-term jobs and hundreds more during construction. The project is estimated to generate more than $400 million in economic activity within the first four years of operation, according to research from the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance, or AREA.

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Sweden Offers $23B to Finance Nuclear Power Construction

Sweden’s government said last week it was ready to offer up to $23 billion in loans to utilities for the construction of new nuclear reactors.

The government in 2023 presented a roadmap to massively ramp up nuclear energy production in the country. Energy Minister Ebba Busch told a press conference, “We are facing a decisive moment for Sweden’s energy. A secure supply of electricity is a fundamental function of society.”

In late August of this year, the country said it had selected small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) for its first nuclear power expansion in 50 years.

Three or five of the next-generation reactors would be built at the Ringhals plant in southwestern Sweden, providing around up to 1,500 MW. These numbers suggest the government may have in mind SMRs that can generate 300 MW of power like the GEH BWRX-300 or the recently announced Westinghouse AP300.

The government said it was proposing a budget framework for companies seeking government loans — which would be cheaper than loans secured through private financial institutions — to fund the construction of new nuclear power. The funds are expect to cover some of the costs of new reactor construction over the next 12 years.

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India Kicks Off Construction of Four 700 MW PHWR

(WNN) The Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project will comprise four 700 MWe pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) designed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), and is part of India’s fleet mode initiative to build ten identical 700 MWe reactors at various locations across India under uniform design and procurement plans. This is an approach the Indian government says will bring in cost efficiencies and speed deployment, while consolidating operational expertise.

The Mahi Banswara units are to be developed under Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd (Ashvini), a joint venture between NPCIL and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Formation of the 51% NPCIL:49% NTPC joint venture set up to construct, own and operate nuclear power plants in India received approval from the government last year.

The other reactors that make up the ten planned units are Kaiga units 5 and 6 (in Karnataka), Gorakhpur units 3 and 4 (Haryana), and Chutka units 1 and 2 (Madhyar Pradesh). Two 700 MWe PHWR units at Kakrapar, in Gujurat, are already in commercial operation. Another, Rajasthan unit 7, was connected to the grid in March, and construction is ongoing on Rajasthan unit 8.

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TerraPower Seeks Nuclear Reactor Deal in Kansas

TerraPower, Evergy (NASDAQ: EVRG) and the Kansas Department of Commerce, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore siting TerraPower’s flagship technology, the 345 MW Natrium reactor and energy storage system, within Evergy’s service territory in Kansas. If this deal matures to a final investment decision, it will place TerraPower’s reactor in the role of supplying electricity to a two state region.

This agreement will enable the collaboration between the entities to evaluate site-specific characteristics for a potential advanced nuclear power plant, as well as explore the Natrium plant’s technical design and ability to support Evergy’s customers.

Site selection will be based on an evaluation of a variety of factors including community support, the physical characteristics of the site, the ability of the site to obtain a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and access to existing infrastructure.

The Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MW of power when needed as it is designed to keep base output steady, ensuring constant reliability, and can quickly ramp up when demand peaks — it is the only advanced reactor design with this capability.

TerraPower broke ground on the first Natrium project in 2024 in Wyoming and is positioned to be one of America’s next commercial-scale nuclear power plants.

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Zeno Power and Orano in Deal for Americium-241 to Fuel Space Nuclear Batteries

Zeno Power and Orano announced a strategic agreement to secure a reliable supply of americium-241 (Am-241), a long-lived isotope uniquely suited for space power, from Orano’s used nuclear fuel recycling operations.

This collaboration brings together Zeno, the leading developer of nuclear batteries, and Orano, a recognized leading operator in nuclear fuel cycle material production and management, to secure a reliable and diversified nuclear fuel supply chain for Zeno’s power sources. Under the agreement, Zeno will make a multi-million-dollar investment to obtain priority access to large quantities of Am-241 per year from Orano’s la Hague recycling site in Normandy, France.

Americium-241 will fuel Zeno’s space nuclear batteries, also known as radioisotope power systems (RPS), designed to support missions to the moon and beyond. Historically, RPSs in space have utilized plutonium-238 (Pu-238) as a fuel source, but the isotope’s limited global supply and the rising demand for reliable space power have accelerated the search for additional viable fuel sources.

Americium-241 offers a sustainable supplement to Pu-238, expanding the fuel options for long-duration space nuclear power. Zeno is currently developing an americium-fueled RPS for NASA to power lunar rovers, landers, and infrastructure on the Moon. These space nuclear batteries will deliver the reliable power needed to survive the lunar night and operate in permanently shadowed areas – capabilities that are vital to the Artemis program and NASA’s Moon to Mars initiative.
 
This agreement with Orano secures Am-241 for Zeno’s space nuclear batteries while advancing Zeno’s broader strategy to build a robust nuclear fuel supply chain. In parallel, Zeno is developing strontium-fueled nuclear batteries for maritime applications under a Department of Defense contract.

Access to Am-241 through Orano complements Zeno’s existing Sr-90 supply from the Department of Energy, creating a robust portfolio of nuclear batteries to deliver reliable power across domains.
 
AM-241 has Half Life Decay of 430 Years

Am-241 is an attractive fuel source for space nuclear batteries because of its long half-life of more than 430 years, enabling power systems to last for decades. It is also naturally produced through the decay of other isotopes found in used nuclear fuel. Leveraging its proven industrial recycling capabilities, Orano will recover Am-241 from used fuel processed at its la Hague, France site, positioning itself as a global leader in Am-241 production.
 
“Our work with Zeno demonstrates one of the significant values of recycling used nuclear fuel,” said Corinne Spilios, Senior Executive Vice President of Orano’s Recycling Business Unit.

“By recovering americium-241, we can gain value from material once designated as waste by retrieving and using one of the isotopes for an advanced application such as space power systems. This agreement once again demonstrates the value of recycling recoverable nuclear materials, which allows for energy production while conserving natural resources”.
 
Zeno and Orano have worked together since 2022 to explore industrial production of Am-241 powder at the la Hague site, commissioning a feasibility study to evaluate technical, economic, and logistical pathways. This new agreement demonstrates both the growing market demand for Am-241 and the unique role Orano plays in unlocking value by contributing to closing the nuclear fuel cycle.
 
See how americium-241 can be recycled from used nuclear fuel to power Zeno’s space nuclear batteries. (YouTube video)

What many people do not know is that americium-241 is primarily used in small quantities in ionization-type smoke detectors to ionize air, creating an electrical current that is disrupted by smoke particles. As an alpha radiation emitter shielding is provided by the plastic case of the smoke detector.

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