Amentum selected for Savannah River AI data-centre lease negotiations

What happened

DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration selected Amentum to negotiate a phased lease at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for an AI data-centre project. The proposal describes a 1 GW AI data centre backed by roughly 2 GW of on-site generation.

The stated generation path begins with natural gas and includes an ambition to transition to advanced nuclear. The record does not establish lease terms, a construction schedule, or whether later phases will proceed.

Why it matters

The selection puts an AI-load proposal and a potential advanced-nuclear transition into the same federal-site lease process. It is also part of a related pattern in the supplied record: Amentum and Jacobs have separately been selected for enabling roles on nuclear-linked projects.

For now, the near-term generation plan is natural gas. Any conclusion that the project will create new advanced-nuclear demand would go beyond the available evidence, because that outcome depends on the proposed transition being realised.

What to watch

The most useful receipt will be the negotiated lease terms and evidence from later phases showing whether the AI load is actually paired with new advanced-nuclear generation. Until then, the nuclear element is a stated ambition rather than a confirmed buildout.