Nuclear Startups Chase Military Deadlines While AI Wins Data Center Dollars

Antares just raised $470 million to build nuclear reactors the size of shipping containers for US military bases. The startup aims to have a working reactor at a military site by September 30, 2028. That deadline is less about commercial hype and more about a government contract ticking down.

Antares’ reactors produce no more than one megawatt—tiny compared to a conventional nuclear plant’s one gigawatt. Still, this is a crucial step. In June, Antares’ Mark-0 reactor reached criticality at Idaho National Laboratory, producing a self-sustaining fission reaction with TRISO fuel. It was a small amount of energy, but a big technical milestone. “On June 4th, we won the race to criticality, and now we’ve shifted to the race to commercialisation,” said Bramble, a company insider.

The startup was founded in 2023 and has now raised more than $600 million in total. The latest $470 million round is split between $370 million in equity and $100 million in debt. Investors include Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital, with Point72 Ventures, Shine Capital, and Industrious Ventures also on board. A key deal is a long-term enrichment agreement with Urenco, supplying High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel for their reactors.

While Antares chases military deployment, most small nuclear reactor funding flows toward AI data centers. The AI boom demands massive energy, and small nuclear plants could fill that gap. But Antares sticks to defense—military bases need reliable, compact power. The company doesn’t expect to produce electricity until next year.

Meanwhile, Bluecore Energy, founded in January 2026, is taking a different approach. They build small nuclear reactors on floating barges. These barges can move by ship to ports and infrastructure needing clean power. Bluecore’s reactors use light water technology and only need refueling every few years. Their 185-foot test barge is docked at the Port of Long Beach, California, ready for trials. “We are able to utilize existing water-cooled nuclear technology that has been operating for over 70 years,” said Bluecore founder Kofi Asante.

Bluecore raised $10 million in a pre-seed round led by Slauson & Co., with investors like Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Ventures. They plan to ship an electricity-producing reactor within a few years, targeting ports and data centers. Their floating systems connect to grids via subsea cables and feature steel pressure vessels, concrete shielding, and steel lining for safety.

On the research front, X-energy joined the Prometheus project, a $60 million DOE initiative to accelerate advanced nuclear deployment using AI. X-energy contributes $10 million in private capital plus proprietary reactor and fuel designs. Their Xe-100 reactors and TRISO-X fuel form the technical backbone of this three-year AI-driven research. “The future belongs to those willing to solve for what’s next, and that is exactly what we do at X-energy,” said CEO J. Clay Sell.

X-energy has a robust 11 gigawatt pipeline across the US and UK, with commercial projects underway alongside Dow, Amazon, and Centrica. Amazon and X-energy also hold options for more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2039.

No microreactor is in service anywhere in the US yet. The industry faces engineering, regulatory, and financial hurdles. Still, the race is on. Antares pushes to meet its 2028 military deadline. Bluecore bets on flexible, floating nuclear power. X-energy advances AI-powered nuclear tech at scale. The future of nuclear power is not just about gigawatts—it’s about who delivers first and where.

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