ONE Nuclear Advances Site Work for 1GW Louisiana SMR Plant
Pre-revenue startup ONE Nuclear Energy LLC has secured site control and completed initial siting work for a proposed 1-gigawatt small modular reactor campus in Louisiana, Rigzone reports.
Market Impact
The project, called Amberjack, would be a scalable site built around small modular reactors (SMRs). West Palm Beach-based ONE Nuclear said it has conducted initial nuclear siting and constraints analyses, prepared assessment memoranda and siting screens, and developed conceptual layouts for a dedicated SMR campus. Chief development officer Chris Hansmeyer said the site is “supported by completed initial siting work and a defined path into engineering, community engagement and federal licensing.”
The company’s next phase includes land, geotechnical and environmental field studies, cooling-water and logistics evaluations, transmission and interconnection analysis, and vendor-neutral SMR technology screening. Final capacity, reactor technology and plant configuration will depend on detailed engineering, environmental review, transmission studies, financing and the federal licensing process.
In a separate Louisiana project, ONE Nuclear signed a binding letter of intent for site control on Project Cayman, envisioned as a 2.88-GW natural gas plant paired with a 700-MW battery storage system and a data center campus near the RiverPlex MegaPark, close to SpaceX’s recently announced infrastructure expansion. Public information meetings with local parishes and government agencies are planned from September through December 2026.
ONE Nuclear is being acquired by Hennessy Capital Investment Corp VII in a deal shareholders approved last month, forming ONE Nuclear Energy Inc. and generating up to $210 million in gross merger proceeds. The company has existing agreements with Black & Veatch for engineering, procurement and construction work, with Futureworx for program management, and a strategic relationship with Rolls-Royce Solutions America for natural gas power generators.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Geotechnical and environmental field study contracts for Project Amberjack are the near-term opportunity, covering land surveys, soil borings, cooling-water assessments and logistics evaluations that ONE Nuclear says are next on the schedule.
- Louisiana civil, E&I and heavy-civil subs should track the September through December 2026 community outreach meetings for Project Cayman, since those sessions typically precede permitting milestones that open up early-phase bid packages.
- Firms with transmission and interconnection experience should watch for study contracts tied to both Amberjack and Cayman, as ONE Nuclear has flagged transmission analysis as a required step before technology and configuration decisions are locked in.
- Black & Veatch holds the EPC agreement for ONE Nuclear’s projects, so subcontractors in pipefitting, mechanical and instrumentation trades should establish relationships with Black & Veatch’s project teams now, ahead of any formal construction start.
- The $210 million in merger proceeds gives ONE Nuclear near-term capital for pre-development spending, but no construction start date or subcontract packages have been announced, so this remains a pipeline-tracking stage rather than a bid-ready opportunity.
