HWBRIEF
Entergy signed a non binding agreement with Holtec, a US nuclear technology firm, to study paired SMR 300 small modular reactors in the Gulf South for AI and industrial power.
Entergy, a US utility headquartered in New Orleans, signed a non-binding agreement with Holtec International to evaluate two-unit SMR-300 deployments across Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.
An SMR-300 is a factory-built, pressurized-water nuclear unit rated at about 300 megawatts of electricity (roughly a third of a typical large reactor) and 1050 MW of thermal output, designed to be deployed in pairs. Entergy runs nuclear and gas plants across the Gulf South, where utilities are weighing small modular reactors to feed AI data-center and industrial load.
The agreement is a study framework, not a build commitment. The companies will assess customer demand, candidate sites, and commercial structures, with no site, capacity, or timeline announced. Holtec leads reactor and nuclear systems work, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) handling balance-of-plant engineering, procurement, and construction under an integrated EPC arrangement; a joint project office will integrate controls.
Holtec has been developing the SMR line since 2011 and runs similar evaluation deals in the UK with EDF, a civil-nuclear MOU with Rwanda, and an arrangement in Hungary. Two other SMR projects have already been selected for US federal funding.
What to watch: completion of the site study, NRC licensing milestones for the SMR-300 design, any offtake or industrial-customer commitment, and a move from "evaluation" to a binding EPC or site announcement.