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Manufacturing NewsTEG DailyNovember 2, 2026

November 2, 2026 · Sullivan County · Story 1 of 5

AtkinsRéalis, Indiana and Hoosier Energy Sign MOU to Study 6 GW CANDU Nuclear Campus

Daniel BurkePublished every day

AtkinsRéalis, the State of Indiana and Hoosier Energy signed a memorandum of understanding on October 19 to study a campus of up to eight CANDU reactors capable of delivering up to 6.0 gigawatts of baseload power. No site, financing plan, power buyer or construction schedule has been named, and the agreement leaves room for gas-fired bridge plants and reuse of retired coal sites.

The same week, AEP, Amazon and X-energy announced a competing 960 megawatt small modular reactor project at the former Breed coal plant in Sullivan County, already backed by a named site, a named power buyer in Amazon and a named operator in AEP. Hoosier Energy is a not-for-profit transmission cooperative with no generation assets since it retired its Merom coal plant, so it cannot self-fund construction the way AEP can. CANDU is also the only pressurized heavy-water reactor design that has ever sought NRC certification in the United States, and if that certification stalls, the 6 gigawatt pipeline has no licensed fallback design.

Impact
This MOU landed the same week AEP, Amazon and X-energy announced a competing 960 MW SMR project at the former Breed coal plant in Sullivan County, a deal that already has a named site, a named power buyer (Amazon) and a named operator (AEP), giving it a structural head start on every commercial dimension CANDU lacks. The glossed-over detail: Hoosier Energy is a not-for-profit transmission cooperative with no generation assets since retiring its 1,070 MW Merom coal plant, meaning it cannot self-fund or backstop construction the way AEP can, so this project needs a creditworthy industrial anchor buyer before it can move past the study phase. CANDU is also the only pressurized heavy-water reactor ever to seek NRC design certification, a binary regulatory risk, if certification stalls, the entire 6 GW pipeline evaporates with no fallback licensed design.
Watch
Whether AtkinsRéalis advances past its first of seven planned NRC topical reports, and whether Hoosier Energy or the state names an industrial offtaker to anchor project financing.
For the huddle

If Hoosier Energy can't backstop this project financially the way AEP is backstopping the competing Sullivan County SMR deal, could our plant be a candidate industrial anchor buyer, and what would that commitment require of us?

Hoosier Energy has no generation assets since retiring Merom, so the CANDU campus needs a creditworthy industrial offtaker before it moves past the study phase, worth a conversation with Hoosier Energy or the state before the field narrows.

Sources

  1. 6 GW CANDU Nuclear Project: AtkinsRéalis, Indiana and Hoosier Signs MoU to Deliver Eight Reactors · constructionreviewonline.com

Earlier coverage

From the brief, November 2, 2026

  1. AtkinsRéalis, Indiana and Hoosier Energy Sign MOU to Study 6 GW CANDU Nuclear Campus
  2. Lockheed Martin Completes $3.4B Ultra Maritime Acquisition, Adds Columbia City Sonobuoy Plant
  3. Indiana Tech Workforce Hits 124,098 as AI Demand Spills Into Manufacturing
  4. Studebaker Museum's 'Motor City, Indiana' Exhibit Sits Two Miles From a Stalled Samsung SDI Battery Plant
  5. Amazon's $100M Greenwood Plant Brings Amazon Greenwood Manufacturing Jobs at Nearly $100,000

The whole day’s brief →

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