• New Mining will provide site, engineering and power-use data for a first-stage study covering about 30MWe of operational data-centre load
  • The study could expand towards 100MWe, while Morpheus remains at a pre-conceptual stage and the MOU includes no power purchase or offtake commitment

The fact

Nuclea Energy and New Mining have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to assess whether Nuclea’s modular nuclear technology could supply behind-the-meter power to New Mining’s US data-centre operations. The first phase will focus on engineering scoping for about 30MWe of current operational load, with a second phase potentially evaluating expansion to as much as 100MWe. New Mining, headquartered in Miami, operates about 65MW of Bitcoin-mining infrastructure across North Dakota and Minnesota.

Nuclea, a Canadian advanced-nuclear developer, is developing the Morpheus microreactor, which remains at a pre-conceptual stage. Under the MOU, Nuclea will provide engineering specifications, microgrid architectural planning and regulatory and zoning pre-application strategy, while New Mining will provide site, engineering and power-use data. The agreement is not a power purchase or offtake contract and does not commit either company to supply power. If the project advances, generation and power delivery would have to be handled by a qualified third-party utility or specialised nuclear operator.

The assessment

Starting with an operating load changes what the parties can study. Instead of modelling demand alone, Nuclea can use New Mining’s site, engineering, and power-use data to examine how a reactor-backed microgrid could integrate with roughly 30MWe already in operation. That gives the feasibility work a defined electrical requirement without implying that nuclear generation has been secured.

The remaining steps are substantial. Morpheus is still pre-conceptual, and the MOU does not identify a site-specific regulatory path, third-party operator, or binding power agreement. The study can narrow the engineering and siting requirements for a possible deployment, but it cannot establish whether or when nuclear power will serve New Mining. For BTW readers, the 30MWe figure is a design input, not committed nuclear capacity. The project would move beyond feasibility only when that operating load is tied to a specific site, reactor configuration, regulatory path, operator and commercial agreement.

What to watch

The first milestones to look for are a named site and a site-specific reactor and microgrid configuration. A third-party operator, defined regulatory pathway and binding power or offtake agreement would move the proposal beyond engineering scoping towards a specific deployment.