Equinix-backed US microreactor developer Radiant has announced that it will construct its first nuclear reactor factory on a Manhattan Project site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Radiant will commence construction of the factory in early 2026, on land acquired from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board. According to the company, the agreement keeps it on track to deliver its first mass-produced Kaleidos nuclear generator by 2028, and, within a few years, scale up production to 50 reactors per year.

The factory will be named R-50, in apparent homage to the company’s goals.

"What was formerly the first Manhattan Project site will now be the site of the first portable nuclear generator production," said Doug Bernauer, CEO and founder of Radiant. "By 2028, we'll be rolling out the first factory-built nuclear generator, and within a few years we'll be producing over a dozen per year."

Radiant is currently developing its Kaleidos microreactor, designed to produce 1.2MWe and 3MWth. The Kaleidos is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) that uses TRISO fuel, a helium gas coolant, and prismatic graphite blocks. Radiant says its modular containerized system can be deployed to deliver on-site power within days.

Radiant is currently in pre-application talks with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and was recently named one of 11 projects in the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program. The company has completed front-end engineering and experiment design for a Kaleidos prototype, aiming for lab testing as early as mid-2026.

In August, the company signed a deal with colo giant Equinix to supply the data center operator with 20 Kaleidos microreactors.

Following this, in August, the company signed a £4 million ($5.1m) deal with nuclear enrichment firm Urenco to deliver high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel into the American market.

The data center market has become one of the largest investors in advanced nuclear technology, betting it could become a crucial baseload energy source for its operations. Over the past year, Amazon, Google, Data4, Oracle, Switch, and Endeavour have all signed agreements with SMR developers.