Crusoe has partnered with small modular reactor (SMR) developer Aalo Atomics to develop and deploy the world's first nuclear-powered AI data center.

The partnership will see Crusoe deploy one of its Crusoe Spark modular data centers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in 2027, as a proof-of-concept project. The Spark unit will be powered directly by Aalo's Pod reactor, a 50MWe reactor that comprises five individual Aalo-1 microreactors (each with a capacity of 10MWe) paired with a single power-generating turbine.

Following this, the companies said that they intend to deploy Aalo Pods across Crusoe’s data center portfolio by the end of 2029.

“The next generation of AI infrastructure demands power that is reliable, abundant, clean, and at scale, and Aalo’s nuclear reactors are built to meet that need,” said Cully Cavness, co-founder, president, and chief strategy officer, Crusoe. “One of Crusoe’s core values is to ‘bend the arc of energy toward sustainability,’ and within that value we embrace the principle of using Crusoe’s market position to support and accelerate energy innovation. In line with our core values, we look forward to Aalo and Crusoe jointly demonstrating to the industry the first AI data center powered by a small modular nuclear reactor.”

Aalo was one of four advanced nuclear companies to reach criticality of its reactor earlier this month, as part of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Reactor Pilot Program.

The company reported that it had achieved criticality for its Aalo-X Critical Test Reactor in the early morning hours of July 4, 2026, at the INL, meeting the deadline stipulated in the program. Criticality is when a nuclear reactor achieves a self-sustaining chain reaction. The company broke ground on the test reactor in September of last year. The company joined Antares, which was the first to achieve criticality, as well as Valar and Deployable Energy.

“As one of only four companies to reach criticality by President Trump’s deadline for companies in the DOE Reactor Pilot Program, we are now well positioned for not only the full power operation of our 10 MWe Aalo-X reactor, but also the deployment of the Aalo Pod to power commercial data centers,” said Matt Loszak, CEO, Aalo Atomics. “We are now the only nuclear technology company to design and build a nuclear reactor fueled to produce 10MW of electricity – an achievement that positions Aalo as the premier power provider for the modern data center.”

The Aalo-X reactor is a precursor to the company’s flagship offering, dubbed the Aalo pod. The 50MW microreactor comprises five 10MWe reactors driving a single turbine. It is sodium and air-cooled, meaning it requires no external water source.

The Crusoe Spark is a prefabricated AI data center housed in a shipping-sized container, announced in June of last year. Crusoe claims it is a fully integrated AI solution that integrates GPU racks, cooling, power distribution, remote monitoring, and fire suppression into a transportable chassis. Each unit has a capacity of just under 1MW. According to Crusoe, the unit will feed into the Crusoe Cloud.

The deal is Crusoe's second with a nuclear power developer and the first with an advanced nuclear developer. Last October, the firm partnered with US nuclear energy firm Blue Energy to develop an up to 1.5GW nuclear-powered data center campus located in the Port of Victoria, Victoria, Texas. Power will initially be delivered via natural gas as a bridge to nuclear power.