Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has opened applications for $350 million in grants through the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund (TANDF) to support the nuclear energy industry, its supply chain and its manufacturing capacity in the state.
“To power the Texas of tomorrow, we must boost our state’s advanced nuclear capacity,” Abbott said in a statement.
The TANDF, the largest nuclear investment in the country according to Texas, was created by state law in 2025 to aid the development and commercialization of the advanced nuclear sector. The same law also created the state’s Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office (TANEO), which will administer the funds.
“Through TANEO and the [TANDF], Texas is streamlining the nuclear regulatory environment and making investments to spur a flourishing nuclear energy ecosystem for generations to come,” Abbott said.
Reed Clay, president of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, welcomed the news. He applauded Abbott and the TANEO for “establishing the programs that will lead directly to more nuclear power and more nuclear jobs in the state of Texas.”
“It is clear that the governor urgently understands two things,” Clay said in an email: “the immense national security and energy security implications of regaining our status as the world’s leading exporter of nuclear technology, and the exponential opportunity to bring high-paying jobs to Texas as the nuclear industry re-establishes itself.”
The alliance, formed in 2022, is dedicated to the advancement of nuclear technology in Texas. Clay said some of its more than 70 member companies played an “instrumental” role in passing the bill that created the TANDF.
The fund comprises two programs: Project Development and Supply Chain Reimbursement, and Advanced Nuclear Construction Reimbursement. Grant applications for the programs are open to projects that build advanced reactors, strengthen the nuclear manufacturing capacity and build a domestic fuel cycle supply chain in Texas.
The development program holds $70 million, capped at $12.5 million per award. The construction program holds $280 million, capped at $120 million per award. State law allows the TANEO to only sign agreements with projects that have a license or permit application from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Only two projects are currently eligible. X-energy’s 80-MW collaboration with Dow at the latter’s Seadrift facility on the Gulf Coast has entered an 18-month construction-permit review by the NRC. Fermi America has an advanced nuclear application pending before the commission for its four-unit AP1000 plant, part of Project Matador in the Texas Panhandle.
Applicants must submit a notice of intent to apply by April 23 and submit formal applications by May 14.
The TANDF is modeled after the $10 billion Texas Energy Fund, which provides grants and loans to finance the construction, maintenance and modernization of the state’s electric facilities.
Thomas Gleeson, chair of the Public Utility Commission, said during a state Senate hearing April 1 that the PUC has executed six loans for 3.5 GW of gas-fired generation, with an additional 5 GW of projects going through due diligence. That nears the TEF’s goal of 10 GW of dispatchable generation.
The commission has also selected 29 projects that strengthen electric reliability and facility weatherization for the 919,000 customers served outside the ERCOT region, Gleeson said.
