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Prosecutors are proposing a nonprosecution agreement to resolve Boeing’s violation of an earlier settlement

WASHINGTON—Boeing won’t be prosecuted over violating an earlier criminal settlement under a tentative deal with the Justice Department that would allow America’s biggest exporter to avoid being labeled a felon, according to people familiar with the matter.

The aerospace company would receive a nonprosecution agreement instead of having to plead guilty, which it had agreed to do toward the end of the Biden administration, the people said. The reversal would be one of the most stark examples of how the Trump administration has taken a less aggressive approach to enforcing the law against big companies.

The case stems from Boeing’s admission that former employees deceived air-safety regulators before two deadly crashes of 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019. Boeing resolved the criminal investigation in January 2021 and was placed on a form of corporate probation. But prosecutors said last year that Boeing violated that settlement, which had required it to improve its antifraud compliance program.

The Nuclear Company is taking an old approach to building new nuclear reactors. Rather than gin up a new design or try to mass manufacture smaller reactors, it wants to develop a series of reactors using existing designs.

The two-year-old startup announced a Series A last month that included investments from CIV, Goldcrest Capital, MCJ Collective, True Ventures, and Wonder Ventures, though it did not disclose the amount raised. Now, TechCrunch can confirm that the company has secured $46.3 million in a Series A fundraise out of a targeted $51.3 million total. The details were published in an SEC filing.

The Nuclear Company was founded in 2023 by three serial entrepreneurs: former AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb, Arcadia CEO Kiran Bhatraju, and CIV CEO Patrick Maloney. The startup is prioritizing sites that already have permits or licenses to operate. Fewer than a dozen sites fall under that rubric, according to filings for combined operating licenses and early site permits at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

At the sites that are closer to groundbreaking, each can support reactors with more than 1 gigawatt of generation capacity. The Nuclear Company is aiming to develop 6 gigawatts in its first fleet.

The funding round arrives as tech companies and utilities are struggling to secure power for data centers. Demand for electricity in the U.S. is expected to surge nearly 16% by 2029, according to Grid Strategies, after years of steady consumption. Data centers are a large driver; their electricity use could quadruple by the end of the decade.

In the face of potential power shortages, tech companies have been cozying up to nuclear startups and developers. Google is working with Kairos to build 500 megawatts’ worth of small modular reactors (SMR), while Amazon participated in a massive $700 million round to fund X-energy’s SMR plans. Meta has solicited proposals from developers to build up to 4 gigawatts of generating capacity, and Microsoft is working with Constellation Energy to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island.

But nuclear power is facing headwinds, both expected and unexpected. Competition from solar power is among the former: Tech companies and data center operators have been snapping up capacity from solar farms, signing sizable deals. These farms are frequently paired with massive batteries to provide 24/7 electricity. The technology is inexpensive, and new projects can be developed in around 18 months.

Nuclear may soon face other financial hurdles, too. This week, the House Ways and Means Committee published its draft of a reconciliation bill that would kill subsidies for nuclear power that were granted under the Inflation Reduction Act. Nuclear power plants are currently eligible for tax credits up to $15 per megawatt-hour.

Most new nuclear power plants, including those on The Nuclear Company’s timeline, aren’t expected to come online until the early 2030s. Given that forecasts for the next five years vary wildly, massive nuclear plants entering service a decade from now could be stuck holding the bag.

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