In February of 2026, NIA released the U.S. Nuclear Energy Project Tracker to help stakeholders understand the status of early mover projects in the United States with respect to five key indicators: (1) site selection and site work, (2) licensing, (3) project teaming, (4) offtake, and (5) funding. The May 2026 update to that tracker is available today. Here are a few highlights:
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Two advanced reactors with commercial offtake have now broken ground on nuclear side construction in the United States. Kairos Power’s HERMES II in Oakridge, TN and Terrapower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming both began nuclear construction activities. This marks a significant step forward for both of these companies. The HERMES II reactor is a 50 MW reactor that will provide energy to a Google datacenter via a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tennessee Valley Authority. Natrium will provide up to up to 500 MW of power to Rocky Mountain Power.
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Three U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Reactor Pilot Program reactors received their Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) approval from the DOE. Aalo, Antares, and Valar all received DSA approval, which allows them to load fuel into their units. The DOE Final Readiness Review will be the final step to allow these units to reach criticality. These three projects appear to be on schedule for July 4th, 2026 criticality.
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X-energy completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ on April 24th, raising over $1 billion in what was the largest nuclear energy IPO on record. This strengthens X-energy’s financial position for delivering the Long Mott and Energy Northwest projects as well as completing their TRISO-X production facility for fuel fabrication.
Check out the tracker for details on each project and stay tuned, as progress is accelerating with respect to all five key indicators.
The NIA U.S. Nuclear Energy Project Tracker can be found at https://nuclearinnovationalliance.org/project_tracker
For more information on the five key indicators that NIA tracks, see our report Progress of Early Mover Nuclear Projects: Key Indicators to Watch