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Arkansas is one step closer to understanding the feasibility of building more nuclear power to address its growing electricity needs, after the legislature’s Joint Energy Committee approved a contract for a consultant to study the matter Wednesday.
Among other things, the consultant will examine whether small, modular nuclear reactors or microreactors would be feasible in Arkansas.
The year-long contract, which will be executed and paid for by the Bureau of Legislative Research, will cost no more than $305,000. It will still need to be approved by the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Executive Subcommittee on Thursday, before going before ALC Friday for a final vote.
Committee members directed BLR to begin negotiating a contract with Maryland-based EXCEL Services Corporation in June. Act 707 of 2025 directed the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment to study the feasibility of building more nuclear power, but due to a lack of funding, the committee opted to do it instead.
If the contract is approved, the feasibility study will determine the economic and environmental impacts of nuclear expansion “without limitation,” according to a draft. It will also make recommendations on “optimal design specifications,” location criteria, safety criteria, potential policy changes and job, tax and supply chain impacts of building more nuclear power.
The state’s only nuclear power plant, Arkansas Nuclear One, located near Russellville, already provides enough power for roughly 56% of Entergy Arkansas’ 730,000 customers, according to Entergy’s website.
Nationally, nuclear power — especially from modular reactors — has been gaining new, bipartisan looks as the need for electricity grows due to artificial intelligence and data centers, both of which require massive amounts of electricity.
The move to enter into the contract comes as Arkansas tries to keep up with other states eyeing nuclear power. Texas passed legislation earlier this year investing $350 million in nuclear expansion, while Three Mile Island — a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania that partially melted down in 1979 and closed in 2019 — is set to be brought back online to power AI data centers for Microsoft.
