First American Nuclear and Indiana leadership announced Tuesday that the company will bring its headquarters, manufacturing facilities and an energy park to the state.
“Indiana is leading the nation in the next chapter of American energy independence,” Gov. Mike Braun said in a news release. “With First American Nuclear planting its roots here, we’re bringing 5,000 high-paying, generational Hoosier jobs while cementing our state as a leader in clean, reliable nuclear power.”
First American Nuclear is a company dedicated to building small modular reactors, or SMRs, which are advanced nuclear reactors that have about one-third the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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The company’s energy park is designed to be the first “closed-fuel cycle” in U.S. history, according to the news release, which means “it will reprocess and reuse spent nuclear fuel on-site, eliminating 97% of long-lasting nuclear waste.” EAGL-1, the reactor planned to be used, can create more fuel than it burns, according to First American Nuclear, which sets the stage for the energy to be deemed clean and renewable.
“In the flurry of America’s nuclear renaissance, Indiana and FANCO found a shared commitment to technical merit, authenticity and follow-through,” Mike Reinboth, CEO of First American Nuclear, said in a news release. “Collectively, our team has dedicated centuries to nuclear science, resulting in an unmatched nuclear solution that, fittingly, will take root in the crossroads of America.”
Kerwin Wilson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, said in a statement Tuesday that he doesn’t believe nuclear power can meet Indiana’s energy demands and that it’s as clean as nuclear power companies want to say.
“They are not even close to being cost-effective with other fuels and technologies, not to mention that they are years away from being commercially available, if they ever will be,” Wilson said in his statement. “They are not a solution to meeting the growing electric demand. Affordable, clean, and truly safe technologies, like wind and solar, are available today. There’s no need to squander billions in ratepayer and taxpayer money down the nuclear rabbit hole and expose our communities to the inherent dangers and risks of the nuclear fuel cycle. There’s a better path forward.”
According to a previous Purdue University study, SMRs release carbon-free electricity that have the capacity to meet Indiana’s growing energy needs, and multiple coal plants were deemed suitable to meet those needs. The Indiana Office of Energy Development funded and released the report in November 2024, and Purdue received $300,000 to complete it, according to the state’s Transparency Portal.
First American Nuclear is looking for sites for its corporate headquarters, manufacturing facility and energy park, a spokesperson for the company said in an email, but none have been decided yet. Construction for both the manufacturing and energy park sites is expected to start in 2028.
The spokesperson did not say how much First American Nuclear would receive in terms of economic and tax incentives from Indiana to help build its facilities.
“Indiana has a highly business-friendly environment, affordable cost of living, advantageous central location, and deep pool of tech talent,” the statement said. “It’s premature to provide actual numbers, but First American Nuclear is benefiting from incentives offered to all Indiana businesses, including tax credits for builders of (SMRs) and research and development initiatives.”
In the Purdue study, R M Schahfer in Jasper County was found to be a suitable site. Two other NIPSCO plants, Bailly in Porter County and Michigan City’s plant in LaPorte County, were also considered, but Bailly was deprioritized and Michigan City was deemed “too populated” and unsuitable for SMRs.
A January NIPSCO statement said the utility was in the middle of a multiyear initiative to close its coal-fired generating stations, and NIPSCO plans to replace the sites with more cost-effective, efficient and sustainable sources, including wind, solar and battery storage.
In 2024, NIPSCO conducted four request for proposal events covering all fuel sources and didn’t receive any proposal for SMR projects, according to Post-Tribune archives. The utility received 116 total proposals.
NIPSCO was unable to immediately respond to a request for comment about the First American Nuclear plan, including about whether one of the utility’s facilities will be considered for nuclear power.
Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said in a statement Tuesday that SMRs are “a fantasy of the nuclear industry” and a false solution to energy needs.
“Indiana’s so-called energy priorities are nothing short of shameful,” Williams said. “These aren’t the priorities of everyday Hoosiers. They’re the agenda of Big Tech Billionaires, cashing in on the data center boom that is actively extracting from our communities and displacing our workforce in places like my community of Michigan city and across the country.”