The state of Texas has opened applications for $350 million in funding for advanced nuclear power project commercialization and supply chain development through the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said the financial effort, which he signed into law last June, was the largest state-led investment in nuclear power of its kind in the US.
money will be distributed through two fund units: the Advanced Nuclear Construction Reimbursement Program and the Supply Chain and Project Development Reimbursement Program. Eligible applicants include businesses, non-profit organizations, public entities and universities. Notices of Intent will be delivered on 23 April and full applications on 14 May.
To qualify for construction reimbursement, applicants must have—or reasonably expect to have—a construction permit or combined license application filed with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission by December 1.
background Director Jarred Shaffer said Power magazine that now only two State projects meet this threshold. One is a Dow-X-Energy partnership to build four 80 MWe Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors at Dow’s UCC Seadrift operations site in Calhoun County. Dow submitted its building permit application to the agency in March 2025.
The other is the Matador Project proposal. an adventure of Fermi America and Texas Tech University, with four AP1000 design reactors to be built in Carson County near the US Department of Energy’s Pantex plant in Amarillo. The commission accepted parts of the combined license application on Sept. 5, 2025, the first such application for a gigawatt-scale light water reactor since Florida Power & Light submitted Turkey Point Units 6 and 7 in June 2009, according to federal records.
According to the project documents presented at commission Regulatory information dayconstruction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first unit entering commercial operation in 2033. Fermi America has signed a front-end engineering design contract with Hyundai E&C and a long-term equipment agreement with Doosan Enerbility covering reactor pressure vessels and steam generators.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved a permit for 6 GW of natural gas generation at the Matador Project, Fermi America announced in February. The company said it plans to seek an additional 5GW permit, potentially expanding the site beyond the 11GW originally proposed. The four AP1000 units would add about 4.4 GW of nuclear capacity, according to Fermi America’s annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Abilene Christian University also has a federal permit for a molten salt research reactor, but is ineligible for construction funding after receiving $120 million in prior state support. It remains eligible for development and supply chain financing.
Two entities in the pre-application stages of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could qualify under the “reasonably waiting” provision. ANS Nuclear Newswire reported: Texas A&M University, with ZettaJoule, for a high-temperature gas-cooled research reactor in College Station; and Last Energy, which has proposed up to 30 small pressurized water reactors in Haskell County.
The fund was created under HB 14 in the Texas Legislature. The legislation followed recommendations from the Texas Public Utility Commission’s Advanced Nuclear Reactor Task Force, formed under Abbott’s leadership. “Nuclear power provides an efficient and reliable energy solution while creating high-wage advanced manufacturing jobs,” he said.
