Rick Perry`s REIT Inks Deals For Nuclear Reactors At Texas Campus

Nascent data center developer Fermi America has signed deals to begin building four nuclear reactors at the firm’s planned Texas data center campus. 

Fermi, co-founded by former Texas Gov. and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, announced Monday that the company has inked separate deals with a pair of Korean firms to begin engineering work and manufacturing of equipment for nuclear reactors to power its proposed Project Matador data center campus in the Texas Panhandle. 

The Amarillo, Texas-based REIT’s agreement with Doosan Enerbility will involve the Korean company beginning production of critical long-lead-time reactor equipment needed to build Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, the specific design Fermi plans to deploy on its proposed campus. At the same time, Fermi announced a contract with Hyundai Engineering & Construction to begin engineering work on the reactors. 

Launched in January by Perry and longtime energy executive and Republican donor Toby Neugebauer, Fermi has yet to build any data centers. Still, the company went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market earlier this month, and it now has a market capitalization of close to $14B, according to Bloomberg.   ...more

RSK: On the other hand, nuclear, including small reactors, could fit the energy demands of data centers. Safety is always a concern.