Navigating Nuclear: Historic Funding Opportunities In Texas

We are headed out west as our Navigating Nuclear series explores historic funding opportunities announced in the Lone Star State.

Everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes funding opportunities. The state is betting on the expansion of advanced reactors, including small-modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) (around 300 megawatts electric (MWe) or less), to augment the large reactors (roughly 5,000 MWe from four reactors at two sites) that have been operating for decades in the state. To bolster advanced reactors in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has announced historic levels of state funding that will support the development of and investment in these projects.

US$350 Million in Historic Funding

Launched on 1 April 2026, Governor Abbott stated that "[t]o power the Texas of tomorrow, we must boost our state's advanced nuclear capacity."¹

To do that, US$350 million is currently available from the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office (TANEO) through the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund (TANDF). The state intends for about US$70 million to go toward developing nuclear-power manufacturing while the other US$280 million will go to reactor developers. This funding is available through two tracks: the Advanced Nuclear Construction Reimbursement Program (ANCRP)² and the Project Development and Supply Chain Reimbursement Program.³

Texas is providing an incredibly short clock for applications to apply for funding. A required notice of intent is due by 23 April 2026, with full funding applications due by 14 May 2026.

Each program has slightly different requirements, which we explore below.

Advanced Nuclear Construction Reimbursement Program

Under the ANCRP program, TANEO can reimburse eligible expenses associated with the construction of an advanced nuclear project.⁴

Qualifying expenses include:

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) review of the construction permit or license application;
• Procurement and development of long-lead components; or
• Construction activities, including manufacture, fabrication, quality assurance, placement, erection, installation, modification, inspection, or testing of an advanced nuclear project.

Eligible applicants include businesses, nonprofits, governments, and universities that either "have or reasonably expect to have a docketed construction permit or license application for the project at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on or before 1 December 2026."

Project Development and Supply Chain Reimbursement Program

The development and supply chain program is designed to expedite the development and early stages for new advanced nuclear projects in the state and does not require a reasonable expectation of a docketed application with the NRC. Any business, government, nonprofit, or university can apply for reimbursement of a wide variety of eligible expenses, including:

• Technology development;
• Feasibility studies;
• Site planning, including conceptual site-specific engineering studies;
• Front-end engineering design;
• Site and environmental characterization;
• NRC early site permit work;
• Preparation of the construction permit or license application to the NRC;
• Developing manufacturing capacity and readiness;
• Fuel processing, manufacturing, and fabrication activities essential to the fuel cycle supply;
• Preparation of local, state, and non-NRC federal permits; and
• NRC licensing fees.

These two programs represent an incredible opportunity to accelerate new nuclear programs in the state of Texas, but entities hoping to take advantage of this historic investment must move quickly.

Texas Builds on a Long History of Expanding the Nuclear Field

This renewed interest is not new to the Lone Star State. Highlights of the state's nuclear history include:

• The founding of Texas A&M University's Nuclear Science Center in 1957, which completed a research and test reactor only a few years later in December 1961.
• Two active sites with four reactors: South Texas Project in Matagorda County, which received its initial NRC operating license for Unit 1 in 1988⁵ and Unit 2 in 1989,⁶ and the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Somervell County, which received its initial NRC operating license for Unit 1⁷ in 1990 and Unit 2 in 1993.⁸
• The Pantex Plant, home to the nation's primary nuclear weapon assembly and disassembly facility.

Recently, Texas has been a hotspot of innovation in new nuclear projects: FluxPoint Energy is working to become the first new uranium conversion plant in the country in nearly 70 years; Long Mott Energy applied for a four 80 MWe modular plant on the Texas coast using the X-energy Xe-100 design, with US$1.2 billion in backing from the Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program; Aalo Atomics is designing a solid-fuel sodium-cooled reactor for factory mass production; Natura is building a 1 MW thermal research reactor in Abilene using liquid fuel dissolved in a molten salt mixture—racing the Idaho National Laboratory to build the nation's first advanced liquid-fueled research reactor in over 60 years; and Atomic Alchemy is developing a radioisotope test reactor under the Department of Energy's reactor pilot program,⁹ which fast-tracks the licensing of advanced reactors.

Governor Abbott sees the potential for Texas as a home for advanced reactors, including SMRs, and is pushing the state to make it a reality. With state funding unseen elsewhere in the country and a renewed push to bring advanced reactor technology to the state, we are watching the newest chapter in Texas's nuclear energy history. By putting money where it is needed most to supplement federal funds and support local companies, Texas is developing the benchmark that other states could follow.

An International Firm With Deep Texas Roots

Texas is often the political testing grounds for initiatives that are repeated in other states and at the national level, and nuclear power is no exception. The firm's presence in Texas spans more than 50 years with offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. We regularly engage with every level of the Texas government, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and the NRC. Our experienced team in Texas is ready, willing, and able to help project developers, utilities, and other prospective clients navigate this and other funding opportunities.