‘Nuclear Congressman’ Says Small Modular Reactors Key to Data Center Growth

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2025 – Data centers, artificial intelligence, and broadband all require more energy than the grid can reliably deliver. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., thinks he has the answer: build small nuclear reactors. Lots of them.

“America and the world’s energy needs are booming,” Fleischmann said at a Broadband Breakfast event on “Data Centers, Nuclear Power, and Broadband” here Thursday. “It’s going to be extremely difficult for us to keep up with our current portfolio… In order for AI to boom — and it will boom — we're going to need nuclear.”

Fleischmann, who chairs the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee and self-describes as “the nuclear congressman,” pushed small modular reactors (SMRs) as a means of meeting growing energy demand from AI and data center infrastructure.

“These data centers are very energy-intensive,” he said. “So how do we get that done? SMRs.”

“These smaller reactors are going to be ideal,” Fleischmann continued. “They’re easier to build, easier to design, easier to fuel — and they’re all infinitely safe.”

SMRs are designed to provide reliable, localized, low-carbon power at a smaller scale than traditional nuclear plants, and can be deployed closer to energy-hungry facilities like data centers.

“Can you imagine a data center where literally you put one of these small modular or advanced small reactors right on site?” he said. “It will totally meet their power needs.”

This vision was already taking shape in Fleischmann’s home state. He said the Tennessee Valley Authority was preparing to build the first SMR in the U.S. at Clinch River, Tenn.

“It’s in my district… permitted and ready to go,” he said. “They’ve chosen a GE-Hitachi model — the Canadians are building it. It uses [low-enriched uranium], enriched up to 5%.”

Fleischmann said the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water funding bill, which he authored, included targeted investments to accelerate nuclear deployment — including support for SMR development and next-generation advanced reactor designs. 

As part of that bill, Fleischmann secured $2.7 billion for a new federal program to scale domestic production of HALEU — or high-assay low-enriched uranium — a specialized fuel required by many Generation IV reactors. 

Currently, the only significant commercial source of HALEU today is in Russia, a dependence Fleischmann called unacceptable.

While SMRs were his primary focus, Fleischmann also mentioned microreactors — compact, portable power sources sometimes called “trash can reactors” for their size — with potential use in military operations or forward deployment. 

“Until we get there on nuclear, we’re going to need natural gas. That’s just a reality,” he said.