Fermi’s Top Nuclear Builder Departs as Reactor Timeline Slips

[Marlin]

Fermi's Top Nuclear Builder Departs as Reactor Timeline Slips

https://www.energyconnects.com/news/utilities/2026/november/fermi-s-top-nuclear-builder-departs-as-reactor-timeline-slips/

[Core Content]

Fermi Inc. lost its Chief Nuclear Construction Officer, Mesut Uzman, amid further delays to the reactor deployment timeline for its Project Matador data center campus in Texas. The startup now aims to commission four Westinghouse reactors annually from 2034 through 2037. The leadership change coincides with the cancellation of the company's first binding customer agreement and growing regulatory headwinds for large power-consuming data centers.

Fermi Inc.'s Chief Nuclear Construction Officer Mesut Uzman has left the company, and the startup pushed back the timeline for four large reactors at the center

The setbacks were disclosed the same day Fermi said it had terminated its first binding customer deal and landed a $200 million commitment from a prospective hyperscaler tenant for its massive data center project in Carson County. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the departure and the delays.

Fermi fired its co-founder and chief executive officer, Toby Neugebauer, in April, in part over struggles to line up an anchor tenant for its 17-gigawatt megacampus Project Matador. A growing backlash against data centers in Texas and across the US is becoming another risk factor, Fermi said Thursday.

Read the full article at Energy Connects:
https://www.energyconnects.com/news/utilities/2026/november/fermi-s-top-nuclear-builder-departs-as-reactor-timeline-slips/