TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 16, 2026--
X-energy Reactor Company, LLC ("X-energy" or the "Company"), a leading developer of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel technology, and IHI Corporation (“IHI”), a leading Japanese engineering corporation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in conjunction with the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum to expand U.S.- Japan supply chain development for X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor (“SMR”). The agreement establishes a collaboration framework to explore opportunities for commercial-scale manufacturing of nuclear-grade components, helping to support both U.S.-Japan industrial trade priorities and the execution of X-energy’s 11-gigawatt (“GW”) commercial pipeline.
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The partnership aims to expand X-energy’s supplier base for critical, long-lead components of the Xe-100 as the company scales its supply chain to meet the needs of its 144-unit commercial orderbook. X-energy's supply chain strategy emphasizes partnerships with multiple qualified manufacturers to ensure production capacity and supply certainty, with the agreement with IHI expected to complement X-energy's existing commercial supplier agreements.
“Deploying new nuclear at scale requires capacity and expertise that extends beyond any single supplier, and a global coalition of allied partners committed to driving the work forward,” said Dinkar Bhatia, Chief Commercial Officer at X-energy. “We look forward to exploring opportunities with IHI, and the prospect of combining Japanese manufacturing excellence with American innovation to advance our shared priorities.”
Under the agreement, the companies will collaborate to assess manufacturing opportunities for critical components used in X-energy's high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (“HTGR”). IHI brings extensive experience manufacturing a range of safety-critical components for HTGRs, as well as established relationships with Japanese materials suppliers and component manufacturers to support broader U.S.-Japan SMR supply chain development.
The agreement establishes a relationship with one of the world’s leading nuclear-grade suppliers, with IHI possessing highly specialized nuclear manufacturing capabilities largely unavailable at commercial scale in the United States today. Sustained collaboration directly integrates Japanese manufacturing expertise into U.S. nuclear supply chain development, advancing shared U.S.-Japan priorities on energy infrastructure investment and strategic manufacturing cooperation while supporting both countries' objectives of strengthening allied cooperation in strategic sectors.
X-energy is currently developing more than 11 GW of new nuclear capacity across commercial partnerships in the United States and United Kingdom. In Texas, X-energy and Dow are advancing a proposed four-unit plant under the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. This is expected to be followed by Energy Northwest's Cascade Advanced Energy Facility — the first of several projects to deploy at least 5 GW with Amazon by 2039— and a 6 GW commitment from Centrica for the United Kingdom's first advanced reactor fleet. X-energy’s preliminary agreement with IHI aims to support deployment at this scale, and follows a series of binding supply chain commitments for long-lead components including Japan’s Toyo Tanso for fine-grain graphite, SGL Carbon for medium-grain graphite, and Doosan Enerbility for main power system components. Together, this growing portfolio of U.S. and allied suppliers reinforces the development of a resilient industrial ecosystem capable of delivering advanced nuclear energy at full commercial scale.
About X-energy
X-energy Reactor Company, LLC, is a leading developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation that is redefining the nuclear energy industry through its development of safer and more efficient advanced small modular nuclear reactors and proprietary fuel to deliver clean, safe, reliable energy that meet the demands of the modern economy. X-energy’s simplified, modular, and intrinsically safe SMR design expands applications and markets for deployment of nuclear technology and drives enhanced safety, lower cost and faster construction timelines when compared with other SMRs and conventional nuclear. For more information, visit X-energy.com or connect with us on X or LinkedIn.
About IHI Corporation
IHI has a world-class technology and capabilities in the manufacturing and supply of critical nuclear components, as well as leading design and manufacturing expertise in the backend field highlighted by reprocessing and decommissioning activities in Japan. Furthermore, IHI is driving global expansion for next-generation innovative reactors, aiming to enhance nuclear safety and industry development internationally.
Representatives from X-energy & IHI Corporation sign Memorandum of Understanding.
English teams are playing this week to avoid a wipeout in the Champions League round of 16, with the reputation of the Premier League at stake.
All six English clubs — a record entry for any country in the competition — failed to win a first-leg game last week and only Premier League leader Arsenal is now clearly favored to advance.
Arsenal hosts Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday with the teams tied 1-1 and shapes as the most likely to represent Europe’s richest league in the quarterfinals.
A hat trick of three-goal losses — albeit all on the road against high-class opponents — had many commentators using a famous saying credited to Michel Platini about the tiring English season.
English soccer is “lions in the winter, lambs by the spring,” Platini said while UEFA president from 2007-15, quoting a phrase that seems to have come from the former Yugoslavia decades ago.
On Tuesday, Manchester City will start 3-0 down at home to Real Madrid and Chelsea faces a 5-2 deficit against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.
Tottenham trails 5-2 at home to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, when Liverpool will hope the aura of its Anfield home can help overcome a 1-0 loss in the first leg at Galatasaray. Newcastle goes to Barcelona tied at 1-1.
In the two games without an English team, the remarkable Norwegian underdog Bodø/Glimt takes a 3-0 lead to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday and Bayern Munich is up 6-1 hosting Atalanta on Wednesday.
Here’s a look at the round of 16 picture:
Ten years ago, Real Madrid promoted a former player from within the club in January as a largely untested first-team coach after giving his storied predecessor just a few months until firing him.
It worked out well for Zinedine Zidane. He won that season’s Champions League title — and the next two after that — on replacing Rafa Benitez, who had himself once lifted the trophy with Liverpool.
A decade on, Álvaro Arbeloa is Madrid coach in the same circumstances as Zidane, who he played for just rarely in that 2015-16 season.
Arbeloa passed his biggest coaching test last week against Man City, two months since being the surprise internal choice to replace Xabi Alonso. The latter, another former Madrid star, had been lured last year from a hugely successful job at Leverkusen.
Inspiration for the win against Pep Guardiola’s Man City was captain Fede Valverde, who scored a stunning first-half hat trick thriving in a team that was without injured superstars Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham.
Mbappé is set to return to action from his left knee injury in Manchester, at a stadium where he scored one goal in each of the three times he played there for Monaco, then PSG and Madrid.
Bodø/Glimt should have no fear going to Sporting’s 52,000-seat José Alvalade Stadium that is more than six times bigger than its home stadium.
Coach Kjetil Knutsen's team already won this year in front of bigger crowds and intense atmospheres at Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium and the San Siro against Inter Milan.
Glimt’s shocking 2-1 win at Atletico in the last round of league-phase games in January meant squeezing into the 24-team knockout phase placed 23rd in the 36-team standings. A 2-1 win in Milan completed a 5-2 scoreline in the knockout playoffs round in February.
Both teams should be fresh in Lisbon after skipping scheduled domestic league games at the weekend to help them prepare.
Before kickoff at Stamford Bridge, many eyes will be on Chelsea’s players to see if they try to do another team huddle around the center spot.
It provoked a bizarre image Saturday when Premier League referee Paul Tierney was encircled by Chelsea huddling before a 1-0 loss to Newcastle. The widespread reaction across English soccer was derision for the huddle and Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior’s claim his players wanted to show “respect for the ball.”
In Paris last week, Chelsea huddled before kickoff in both halves and was booed by PSG fans the second time.
The positioning of Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić will be keenly watched Tuesday.
If Bodø/Glimt goes through then Arsenal or Leverkusen will be next to visit the 8,000-seat Aspmyra Stadium inside the Arctic Circle for the first leg on April 7 or 8.
Real Madrid and Bayern are on course to meet in the knockout phase for the 11th time in the Champions League era that started in 1992.
Despite combining to be European champion 21 times, record 15-time winner Madrid and six-time winner Bayern never met in the final in the competition’s 71-season history. They have clashed in eight semifinals.
Their half of the draw also includes PSG, Chelsea, Liverpool and Galatasaray who will make up one of the quarterfinals.
The other quarterfinal looks likely to see Atletico play Barcelona or Newcastle.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Chelsea players prepare for the second half of the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, in Paris, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Bodo/Glimt's Ole Didrik Blomberg, right, scores their side's second goal of the game during the Champions League soccer match between Bodo/Glimt and Sporting Lisbon, in Bodo, Norway, Wednesday March 11, 2026. (Fredrik Varfjell/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz, center, celebrates reserved beside Arsenal's Declan Rice, right, and Arsenal's Martin Zubimendi, left, after scoring a penalty against his former club during the Champions League round of 16 first leg soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal FC in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during a first leg round of 16 Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. ((AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, center, celebrates after scoring during a first leg round of 16 Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
