March 19 (Reuters) - X-energy Reactor Company and Talen

Energy ( TLN ) have agreed to explore deploying X-energy's small

modular reactors in Pennsylvania and across the PJM power

market, the companies said on Thursday.

The U.S. nuclear industry is undergoing a renaissance after

years of stagnation, primarily driven by surging power demand

from the massive computing infrastructure required for

artificial intelligence systems.

* Under the agreement, X-energy and Talen plan early-stage

project development activities, including feasibility studies,

site evaluations and the creation of a project execution

framework.

* X-energy's Xe-100 small modular reactor can be used to

build four- to twelve-unit nuclear power plants, with each

reactor coming online independently, allowing customers to add

capacity incrementally and align generation with load expansion,

the companies said.

* "Our small modular reactor technology is uniquely suited

to meet these demand opportunities reliably and safely, with the

scalability and flexibility to deploy across a range of project

sites," said Dinkar Bhatia, X-energy's Chief Commercial Officer.

* X-energy is developing more than 11 gigawatts of new

nuclear capacity through commercial partnerships in the U.S. and

the United Kingdom.