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On October 15, 2024
30 Sources
[1]
Why Big Tech is turning to nuclear to power its energy-intensive AI ambitions
The OpenAI app icon displayed along with other AI applications on a smartphone. Technology giants are turning to nuclear energy to power the energy-intensive data centers needed to train and run the massive artificial intelligence models behind today's generative AI applications. Microsoft and Google are among the firms agreeing deals to purchase nuclear power from certain suppliers in the U.S. to bring additional energy capacity online for its data centers. This week, Google said it would purchase power from Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors, to help "deliver on the progress of AI." "The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build out of these technologies," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, said on a call with reporters Monday. "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand, and helping meet our demand cleanly, in a way that's more around the clock." Google said its first nuclear reactor from Kairos Power would be online by 2030, with more reactors going live through 2035. The tech giant isn't the only firm looking to nuclear power to realize its AI ambitions. Last month, Microsoft signed a deal with U.S. energy firm Constellation to resurrect a defunct reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, whose reactor has been dormant for five years. The Three Mile Island plant was the location of the most serious nuclear meltdown and radiation leak in U.S. history in March 1979, when the loss of water coolant through a faulty valve caused a reactor to overheat.
[2]
Google is going nuclear for AI
The deal, in partnership with California-based Kairos Power, Google aims to build six to seven of these compact reactors by 2035, with the first expected to go live as soon as 2030. The power demands of artificial intelligence are exploding, and Google says nuclear energy provides the "clean, round-the-clock power" it needs to keep its operations running on carbon-free energy 24/7. According to some estimates, training cutting-edge AI models like ChatGPT or Google's own Gemini consumes immense energy, potentially generating as much as 626,000 pounds of CO2 per model. That's equivalent to roughly "300 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco, or five times the lifetime emissions of an average car." Google isn't the only tech giant making a play for nuclear energy in the AI era. Last month, Microsoft made headlines by announcing its own nuclear energy deal -- a plan to revive the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst nuclear meltdown in U.S. history. The facility has long been dormant and is now slated to be restored to meet Microsoft's growing AI energy demands. Even Amazon has a nuclear energy deal. While locations and financial specifics for these deals are still under wraps, the deal has already been set in motion. The company has committed to buying 500 megawatts of nuclear power -- enough to drive an electric car around 2 million miles. Kairos also plans to have a demonstration plant slated for construction in Tennessee, set to be operational by 2027.
[3]
Google strikes a deal with a nuclear startup to power its AI data centers
Google is turning to nuclear energy to help power its AI drive. On Monday, the company said it will partner with the startup Kairos Power to build seven small nuclear reactors in the US. The deal targets adding 500 megawatts of nuclear power from the small modular reactors (SMRs) by the decade's end. The first is expected to be up and running by 2030, with the remainder arriving through 2035. It's the first-ever corporate deal to buy nuclear power from SMRs. Small modular reactors are smaller than existing reactors. Their components are built inside a factory rather than on-site, which can help lower construction costs compared to full-scale plants. Kairos will need the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve design and construction permits for the plans. The startup has already received approval for a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, with an online date targeted for 2027. The company already builds test units (without nuclear-fuel components) at a development facility in Albuquerque, NM, where it assesses components, systems and its supply chain. The companies didn't announce the financial details of the arrangement. Google says the deal's structure will help to keep costs down and get the energy online sooner. "By procuring electricity from multiple reactors -- what experts call an 'orderbook' of reactors -- we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments that are needed to lower costs and bring Kairos Power's technology to market more quickly," Michael Terrell, Google's senior director for energy and climate, wrote in a blog post. "This is an important part of our approach to scale the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities, and builds on our previous efforts." The AI boom -- and the enormous amount of data center power it requires -- has led to several deals between Big Tech companies and the nuclear industry. In September, Microsoft forged an agreement with Constellation Energy to bring a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania back online. In March, Amazon bought a nuclear-powered data center from Talen Energy.
[4]
Google Follows Microsoft's Lead With Nuclear Power for AI
Google signed an agreement on Monday to buy nuclear energy from engineering company Kairos Power by 2030. Microsoft is planning to reopen a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, but it's not the only tech giant tapping into nuclear energy to meet AI's increasing power needs: Google is also getting into the game with a new partnership. On Monday, Google signed "the world's first corporate agreement" to buy nuclear energy from engineering company Kairos Power. Within the next six years, Kairos Power will get its first power-generating nuclear reactor up and running. By 2035, the company will provide Google with multiple sources of nuclear power. The agreement adds 500 megawatts (MWs) of power to the U.S. grid. Related: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says Nuclear Energy 'Is a Wonderful Way Forward' to Keep AI Data Centers Running Per Google's statement, the agreement was necessary to support AI advancements. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone," Google wrote. Google is already behind on its environmental goals because of investments in AI -- the technology was the main cause of emissions going up 48% since 2019. Nuclear energy is a carbon-free energy source, another reason Google noted for the partnership. Meanwhile, Microsoft has signed an agreement to buy nuclear energy from Three Mile Island, a plant that experienced the most serious accident in U.S. commercial operating history in 1979. The plant shut down in 2019 for economic reasons but will reopen with a $1.6 billion investment. Microsoft will buy energy from it for 20 years.
[5]
Google goes nuclear to support its AI Data Centres
The deal enables up to 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids. Tech giant Google announced on October 14 that it will purchase nuclear power to supply energy to its AI data centres. The company plans to address the high electricity demand propelled by its AI development. Google signed an agreement with California-based Kairos Power to purchase nuclear energy produced by it. As part of the agreement, Google will harness nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) to be safely developed and brought online by Kairos by 2030. Earlier in July, the tech giant announced that it had already started using AI for climate action, considering its environmental impacts and responsibly managing its use. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced on X, "It's the latest step in our history of accelerating clean energy sources and will help support AI investments." With this step, Google joins Microsoft in exploring the possibility of harnessing nuclear energy to fuel its operations. Microsoft began its journey in September with Constellation Energy to buy all of the electricity generated by the reactor for 20 years. Others will follow suit as big tech companies race towards nuclear energy to power their data centres and combat energy needs. Kairos Power's technology features a molten-salt cooling system paired with ceramic pebble-like fuel, efficiently transferring heat to a steam turbine for power generation. The company claims this inherent design enables the reactor to function at low pressure, resulting in a simpler, more cost-effective nuclear reactor. "Overall, this deal will enable up to 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids and help more communities benefit from clean and affordable nuclear power," the company said on its official blog. Why is the deal pivotal? Today, AI technologies are a significant source of new scientific advancements, economic growth, and improved customer and business services. To sustain these technologies, it is essential to find newer, cleaner, and more efficient sources of electricity. Last November, Google partnered with Fervo, a clean-energy startup, to develop a geothermal power project that contributes carbon-free energy to the electric grid. This approach supports new advanced nuclear power sources and complements Google's 24/7 carbon-free energy and net-zero goals of using various renewable energy sources, like solar and wind.
[6]
Google just bought seven nuclear reactors to power its AI | Digital Trends
Google announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with nuclear energy startup Kairos Power to purchase 500 megawatts of "new 24/7 carbon-free power" from seven of the company's small modular reactors (SMRs). The companies are reportedly looking at an initial delivery from the first SMR in 2030 and a full rollout by 2035. "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth," Michael Terrell, Google's senior director of Energy and Climate, wrote in a Google Blog on Tuesday. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone." Recommended Videos Terrell argues that the adoption of nuclear power will complement the company's existing solar power and wind power investments and help it achieve its net-zero energy goals. He also touts nuclear energy as a source of high-paying, long-term jobs, citing a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimate that building out to 200 gigawatts of capacity by 2050 will require an additional 375,000 workers. Google's first advanced nuclear clean energy deal Google is far from the only major tech company eyeing nuclear energy as the answer to its AI power problems. Amazon Web Services purchased a 960-megawatt data center campus from Houston-based Talen Energy in March for a sum of $650 million. In September, Microsoft announced that it is working to restart Unit 1 at New York's Three Mile Island in an effort to power its AI data centers. That same month, Oracle announced that it is designing a 1-gigawatt data center that will be powered by a trio of small nuclear reactors. "The location and the power place we've located, they've already got building permits for three nuclear reactors," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said during a quarterly investors call. "These are the small modular nuclear reactors to power the data center. This is how crazy it's getting. This is what's going on." Kairos is also facing increasing competition from other small modular reactor manufacturers. Westinghouse, for example, is currently testing a micro reactor that can run 24/7 for five years without needing to be refueled. Given the astronomical energy (and cooling) requirements of today's frontier AI models, these advancements can't come soon enough.
[7]
Google adopts small nuclear power reactors at unprecedented scale -- inks deal for seven reactors to feed AI data centers
Google just signed a deal with nuclear power startup Kairos Power to buy carbon-free electricity, with a 2030 initial delivery target and full deployment by 2035. According to Google's blog 'The Keyword', the tech giant aims to deliver 500MW of "new 24.7 carbon-free power" to the U.S. power grid. This move will likely support Google's push for AI supremacy, especially as data center deployments are already being limited by power availability. The White House has taken notice of this power deficit and has undertaken talks with tech companies about the scale of their power demands. It seems that these talks have borne fruit, especially as Google isn't the first one to push for small modular reactors as a data center power source. In early September, Oracle broke the news that it would build three small modular reactors (SMRs) that would deliver at least one gigawatt of power to its AI data centers. Microsoft is also investing $1.6 billion to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor, which the company says will generate more than 800MW. It's unclear how Google and Kairos set up the deal -- whether the former is providing direct funding or if it just promised to buy the power that the latter generates when its reactors are up and running. Nevertheless, Kairos has already passed several milestones, making it one of the more promising startups in the field of nuclear energy. For example, it has already received the green light from the U.S. Nuclear Registry Commission (the first one to do so) to build its Hermes non-powered demonstrator reactor in Tennessee. Although it still doesn't have nuclear fuel on-site, this is a major step in its design process, allowing the company to see its system in real life and learn more about its deployment and operation. However, Kairos isn't the only one working on SMR technology, especially as there is massive demand for easily deployable power sources for data centers. Nuclear power pioneer Westinghouse is also working on a micro nuclear reactor that's easily transportable and deployable, allowing it to deliver an uninterrupted 5MW for eight years. The AI boom isn't just driving demand for chips and data centers, it's also requiring innovations in other industries, like power production and energy transmission. Nevertheless, there are some experts who doubt the viability of the AI business, with some even saying that Nvidia's AI valuation is a 'bubble' and 'overhyped' and that over 80% of AI projects will fail. But as long as investments are pouring in, tech companies will push the envelope on AI tech, hoping that they can remain on the cutting edge if and when AI will go mainstream.
[8]
Google wants to address data center power demands with nuclear power
Google has signed a new deal with Kairos Power to use small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to power its energy-hungry artificial intelligence (AI) data centers as the world begins to confront the consequences of widespread AI adoption and a grid that's struggling to keep up. The partnership will be the first corporate agreement involving the purchase of nuclear energy from multiple SMRs, and is set to begin operation by the end of the decade. With the first reactor online by 2030, Google plans to enlist additional reactors over the following five years. In the nearly two years that have followed the public preview launch of ChatGPT, which is credited with kickstarting widespread interest in artificial intelligence, tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Amazon have been forced to rethink their strategies as data centers' power consumption and use of other natural resources have come under fire. Google's Senior Director for Energy and Climate, Michael Terrell, emphasized the importance of the agreement, noting that the grid needs new energy sources to support AI's continued expansion. He described the partnership with Kairos as an opportunity to accelerate clean, reliable nuclear power and to unlock AI's full potential. Kairos Power CEO Mike Laufer commented: "By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who deeply understands our innovative approach and the potential it can deliver." Alphabet isn't the only big corp looking at nuclear energy to power its data centers - Microsoft and Amazon have also been publicly exploring the potential of nuclear, with the US Department of Energy also deeming it a viable solution. Besides nuclear, Google has also been diversifying its energy investments to offshore wind, solar and geothermic activity. It's not just Google who are looking to address the significant power usage of data centers, as energy companies have also been advised that they need to plan ahead for the AI data center power drain, or lose out on revenue. In a recent interview, Jay Jiang Yu, Founder and Executive Chairman of Nano Nuclear Energy Inc, told TechRadar Pro that "The systems which would need to be in place to meet the expected energy demand would need to commence their installation now, to ensure that the AI and data centers in 2-3 years had the power supply necessary to continue their upscaling and expansion." "Currently the deficit in energy is expected to hit the tech centers sometime around 2026-2027, and currently no new system looks able to come online before those dates," he concluded.
[9]
Google Joins Big Tech's Pivot To Nuclear Energy To Power AI
Last month, Microsoft announced that Constellation Energy would be restarting Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear plant to provide electricity for the tech firm's data centers. Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google is backing the construction of seven small reactors by Kairos Power, the latest move by a tech giant to ramp up nuclear energy use to power its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions. The target, Google said, is to add 500 megawatts of nuclear power in total. The first nuclear reactor is slated to be online by 2030, followed by others through 2035. "This agreement is part of our efforts to develop and commercialize a broad portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies to power our global data centers and offices," said Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google, noting that the deal would provide "new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids." The power-hungry nature of AI chips is prompting the large tech firms that are staking their fortunes on the technology to turn to nuclear energy, which has the advantage of being more stable than many other renewable energy sources. Last month, Microsoft (MSFT) announced that Constellation Energy (CEG) would be restarting Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear plant to provide electricity for the tech firm's data centers in a 20-year supply deal. In March, Amazon's (AMZN) Amazon Web Services bought a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania for $650 million from Talen Energy (TLN). Google shares are edging higher in premarket trading.
[10]
Google Goes Nuclear, Buying Energy From US Reactors to Power AI
Google sign outside a data center in Papillion, NE. (Credit: The Washington Post / Contributor via Getty Images) Google has signed a long-term deal to buy nuclear power from Kairos Power's upcoming small modular reactors (SMRs), the companies announced this week. Kairos will build an unspecified number of SMRs to provide electricity to Google data centers, with the goal of adding 500 MW of electricity to US power grids. Google says the deal is important for powering AI tech, like its own Gemini. Kairos's SMRs use a low-pressure system with molten-salt cooling, which Google claims make it safer and cheaper to operate than other nuclear reactor types. "Having an agreement for multiple deployments is important to accelerate the commercialization of advanced nuclear energy by demonstrating the technical and market viability of a solution critical to decarbonizing power grids while delivering much-needed energy generation and capacity," said Jeff Olson, Kairos Power Vice President, Business Development & Finance, in a statement. Google presents nuclear energy as a "clean" alternative to carbon dioxide-producing options, like coal-burning plants. But that's not exactly the case. SMRs still produce various types of waste. In 2022, a Stanford-led research team found that SMRs specifically will "exacerbate" existing problems with radioactive nuclear waste. A report hosted on the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's site details how Kairos reactors produce different types of waste, including radioactive waste, and explains how the company plans to manage said waste. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal also found that molten salt-cooled SMRs (as well sodium- and water-cooled SMRs) actually "increase the volume of nuclear waste in need of management and disposal by factors of 2 to 30" compared to other reactor types. All that said, some may still see the energy source as worth it despite these issues. When it comes to AI, energy experts more broadly have previously shared their concerns with AI's sky-high power needs -- and whether the US grid can play catch-up with demand. It takes time, often many years, to add new power sources like a new nuclear power plant to existing power grids due to existing regulations. But while new additions slowly join the grid, AI models from the likes of Microsoft, Meta, and Google are already using energy today. As MIT researcher and director of the university's Tata Center for Technology and Design Robert Stoner explained to PCMag earlier this year: "Utilities really don't like adding renewable power plants to their systems. They stress them, they add a lot of peak current at times of the day that are not the same as they are if the system doesn't have those sources. They resist, and they hum and they haw." Stoner also offered a measured critique of energy deals where big tech firms promise to add new sources to the grid through power purchase agreements (PPAs), like that between Google and Kairos. "The problem with that is it's not necessarily additional," Stoner told PCMag. "The companies can make themselves feel good by entering into these sorts of arrangements, [but] they're really just consuming renewable energy that others would happily consume as well."
[11]
Google bets big on 'mini' nuclear reactors to feed its AI demands
Google says the agreement could 'unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.' Google is officially putting its weight behind advanced "mini" nuclear reactors in an effort to produce new clean to meet growing AI energy demands. On Tuesday, the company announced an agreement with California-based small nuclear reactor (SMR) startup Kairos Power to commission the development of six or seven reactors that could add 500 megawatts of clean energy to the US electrical grid within the next decade. Google's buy-in represents the biggest investment for the experimental new reactor type from a tech company and could play a key in making so-called next-generation nuclear commercially viable. The deal is part of a broader embrace of nuclear power by tech giants who are frantically searching for ways to fuel their increasing energy consumption while attempting to stick to their climate goals. In a blog post, Google said it expects the first of Kairos reactors to come online as early as 2030, with the other five six operational by 2035. Once running, these mini reactors will send power directly to local energy grids which Google will then tap into for use in its data centers. Google did not immediately respond to Popular Science's request for comment seeking details on the financials of the agreement or proposed locations for the reactors. The deal still requires approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission before it can move forward. Modern small nuclear reactors, or SMRs, are a departure from the cylinder behemoths most people think of when they imagine a nuclear power plant. These "mini" reactors are typically capable of producing just one-third of the power of their larger predecessors. What they may lack in power, however, they make up for in availability and accessibility. SMR's smaller, modular designs mean they can be produced relatively quickly and deployed in a wider variety of locations and environments than traditional nuclear reactors. In theory, SMRs can be designed en masse in one location and then shipped out to areas depending on their energy requirements. SMRs also reportedly require less frequent refueling. While conventional nuclear power plants need new fuel every year or two, SMRs can last between 3-7 years without needing to top off. Kairos' particular design uses molten salts of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride to cool its reactors rather than water. Supporters of SMRs say they are also inherently safer than conventional nuclear. The simpler, smaller-scale design means SMRs feature reactor cores with lower reactor power. That lower power means overseers could have more time to respond to incidents or accidents. SMRs generally cut down on the overall amount of valves, pipes, cables, and other components, which in turn cuts down on potential areas of failure. All of this means SMR may be less likely to cause dramatic, dangerous large-scale meltdowns and system failures like those seen at plants in Chernobyl and Fukushima. On a practical level, SMRs also less upfront capital investment to get individual reactors up and running though critics have warned they may have difficulty scaling up over the long term. Kairos Vice President Jeff Olson said the deal with Google importantly demonstrates there's a clear market for technology, which could play an important role in efforts to "accelerate the commercialization of advanced nuclear energy." "This early commitment from Google provides a strong customer demand signal, which reinforces Kairos Power's continued investment in our iterative development approach and commercial production scale-up," Olsen added. Google made it clear its decision to invest in advanced nuclear energy is directly tied to increased energy demands brought about by AI. Some reports suggest that data centers housing AI models like Google's Gemini may account for over 9% of the country's overall energy demand by 2030. A Goldman Sachs forecast from earlier this year estimates up to 60% of that additional energy demand may be met with fossil fuel sources. Google, which has pledged to reach net zero carbon by 2030, is hoping these mini nuclear reactors can help fill that gap, and quickly. "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth," Google Senior Director for Energy and Climate Michael Terrell, said in a statement. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone," Terrell added. The agreement comes just weeks after Microsoft announced its own 20-year deal to bring back online the Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania. Though both Google and Microsoft are signaling support for nuclear broadly, they've each decided to place their reputational weight, and hefty pocketbooks, behind at times opposing approaches. While Microsoft has opted to reinvigorate conventional nuclear, Google is hoping it can jump-start a far less tested but potentially more available new alternative. But Google isn't putting all of its eggs in a nuclear basket. In his statement, Terell said the company is investing in a "broad portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies to power our global data centers and offices." So far, that portfolio includes billions of dollars worth of investment in solar and wind farms. Google is also taking a chance on newer, more experimental energy sources like advanced geothermal.
[12]
Google goes nuclear to power its artificial intelligence ambitions
Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to generate the vast amounts of energy needed to power its artificial intelligence (AI) data centres. The company says the agreement with Kairos Power will see it start using the first reactor this decade and bring more online by 2035. Technology firms are increasingly turning to nuclear sources of energy to supply the electricity used by huge data centres that drive AI. The companies did not give any details about how much the deal is worth or where the plants will be built.
[13]
Google goes nuclear in new deal to power AI
Why it matters: It's Google's first nuclear foray as the tech giant -- and its peers -- hunt for zero-carbon power to fuel energy-thirsty AI data centers. Driving the news: If successful, it will bring 500 new megawatts of power to U.S. grids, with the first SMR targeted to come online by 2030 and more through 2035, it said. Reality check: Despite some progress, the SMR industry has yet to successfully commercialize and scale the tech. The big picture: Tech companies are increasingly looking at nuclear energy -- in various forms -- as they face pressure to prevent the AI surge from worsening climate change. State of play: California-based Kairos has Energy Department backing, and has begun constructing a demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. What we don't know: Google and Kairos didn't provide any information about the costs or financial structure of the deal. What we're watching: Other potential Google forays into nuclear, which Terrell didn't rule out. The bottom line: "We believe that nuclear energy has a critical role to play in supporting our clean growth and helping to deliver on the progress of AI," Terrell said.
[14]
Google will help build seven nuclear reactors to power its AI systems
The first plant is expected to come online by 2030, the company announced in a blog post. Other reactors will be deployed by 2035. All totaled, the deal will funnel 500 megawatts of power to the company's AI technologies -- enough to power a midsized city. "Nuclear solutions offer a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands with carbon-free energy every hour of every day," Google wrote in the blog. "Advancing these power sources in close partnership with supportive local communities will rapidly drive the decarbonization of electricity grids around the world." The smaller reactors created by Kairos, a nuclear energy startup, are different than the towers most people think of when they conjure up an image of a nuclear reactor. The company uses a molten salt cooling system (much like the one that will be used for the on-site reactor being built on the campus of Abilene Christian University), which operates at a lower pressure. The company broke ground on a demonstration reactor, which will be unpowered, earlier this year in Tennessee. Google did not unveil the cost of the partnership. The project site (or sites) have not yet been determined. Google's announcement comes weeks after Microsoft announced a partnership with Constellation Energy that will see the undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, resume operations to power Microsoft's AI data centers. Experts have warned data centers could become a big strain on the U.S. power grid, with the nine-year projected growth forecast for North America essentially doubling from where it stood a year ago. Last year, the five-year forecast from Grid Strategies projected growth of 2.6%. That number has since nearly doubled to 4.7% -- and planners expect peak demand to grow by 38 gigawatts. In real-world terms, that's sufficient to power 12.7 million homes.
[15]
Google to purchase nuclear energy from Kairos to help power AI
Oct. 15 (UPI) --Google announced on Monday that it signed a corporate agreement to buy nuclear energy from several small modular reactors developed by California-based Kairos Power as a way to decrease its carbon footprint in the face of increasing energy needs. Michael Terrell, Google's senior director for energy and climate, said in a blog that the power grid needs new energy to support artificial intelligence while not contributing to climate change. He said the deal would enable up to 500 megawatts of new carbon-free power to U.S. electrical grids and help more communities benefit from clean, cheap power. He said the first small modular reactor would be up and running by 2030 followed by additional reactors by 2035. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone," Terrell said on a Google blog. "Nuclear solutions offer a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands with carbon-free energy every hour of every day." According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, small modular reactors are advanced reactors about one-third the size of traditional reactors but can produce a large amount of low-carbon energy. The prefabricated units can be shipped to desired locations, reduce the construction time and be customized for sites that have been long off-limits for such nuclear reactors, the IAEA said. Terrell said that with the support of local communities, nuclear energy can lead to the decarbonization of the electrical grid around the world. Terrell touted that the smaller size and "simplified design" of modular reactors can "reduce construction timelines, allow deployment in more places and make the final project delivery more predictable." Google's deal comes after an announcement last month that the company Constellation signed a 20-year deal with Microsoft to restore the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania for its future energy needs. That reopening is expected to create 835 megawatts of carbon-free energy and create 3,400 jobs. In September, the Biden administration said it reached a $1.52 billion loan agreement to give a Michigan nuclear power plant back to life to feed power to several rural electricity providers.
[16]
Google signs deal to use small modular nuclear reactors to power AI data centers
Google has signed a deal with Kairos Power to build a fleet of small modular nuclear reactors to power its data centers, the tech giant announced Monday. The small modular reactors, a type of next generation nuclear reactor that has yet to be built in the U.S., are scheduled to be completed between 2030 and 2035 and will produce 500 megawatts of power. The deal comes at a crucial moment, as Google and other Big Tech firms search for ways to meet the extensive energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI). "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth," Michael Terrell, Google's senior director of energy and climate, wrote in a blog post. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone," he added. Kairos Power touted Google as "more than just a customer" following the deal's announcement. "Our partnership with Google will enable Kairos Power to quickly advance down the learning curve as we drive toward cost and schedule certainty for our commercial product," Kairos CEO and co-founder Mike Laufer said in a statement. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Nikkei earlier this month that he was looking at using nuclear energy, including small modular reactors, to power the company's data centers. Nuclear represents a key carbon-free source of energy at a time when the tech giant is struggling to cut its emissions and reach its goal of becoming net-zero by the end of the decade. Google's emissions rose 13 percent in 2023 and are up 48 percent since 2019.
[17]
Google set to power it's AI data centres with mini-nuclear reactors
The tech giant has announced a deal to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors developed by California based Kairos Power. In a new effort to power its AI data centres with clean energy, Google has turned to nuclear energy and signed a partnership with US-based Kairos Power which is developing small modular reactors (SMRs). "Today, we're [...] signing the world's first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) to be developed by Kairos Power," said Google in a statement. The first such reactor to power Google's data centres is expected to be operational by 2030, followed by additional reactor deployments through to 2035. Google added: "Overall, this deal will enable up to 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to US electricity grids. The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies." That is enough to power roughly 360,000 homes with electricity annually. Data centres are the heart of the digital economy and their overall energy consumption is expected to double between 2023 and 2028 reaching 857 Terawatt hours (TWh) by the end of this period. Kairos Power has been developing small modular reactors that use a molten-salt cooling system (instead of water), promising shorter construction time and more adaptable solutions for localised needs. The technology is not ready, however, the deal is seen as an important step in unlocking the path to long-term commercial scale. This summer, Kairos Power broke ground on its demonstration reactor in Tennessee, the first such project to receive a construction permit from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone," added Google. The company has not revealed the deal's value or the planned location of the reactors.
[18]
Google Inks Nuclear Power Agreement to Fuel AI Growth
Kairos Power uses molten-salt cooling and ceramic fuel for safe, affordable energy solutions. Google has signed what it calls the world's first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs), developed by Kairos Power, to generate the vast amounts of energy needed to support its artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. According to Google, this deal is part of its ongoing efforts to accelerate clean energy solutions and meet its ambitious 24/7 carbon-free energy goals. Also Read: Google Features Startups Using AI to Transform Mental Health Support The company says the agreement aims to bring Kairos Power's first SMR online quickly and safely by 2030, with additional reactor deployments planned through 2035. These reactors will contribute up to 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to the US electricity grid, helping to meet the growing energy demands of AI technologies and drive national competitiveness. "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies," said Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone." Kairos Power's technology uses a molten-salt cooling system combined with ceramic, pebble-type fuel to efficiently transport heat to a steam turbine for power generation. This passively safe system allows the reactor to operate at low pressure, enabling a simpler, more affordable nuclear reactor design, Google said. This summer, Kairos Power broke ground on its Hermes non-powered demonstration reactor in Tennessee, the first US advanced reactor project to receive a construction permit from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Also Read: Google and Vodafone Expand Partnership to Bring AI-Powered Services Across Europe and Africa Another reason Google cited for the agreement is that nuclear solutions offer a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help the company reliably meet electricity demands with carbon-free energy every hour of every day. The companies did not disclose any details about how much the deal is worth.
[19]
Google to buy power for AI needs from small modular nuclear reactor company Kairos
Alphabet's Google signs the first corporate deal to purchase 500 megawatts from Kairos Power's small modular reactors by 2035, meeting AI-driven electricity demand. Kairos aims to bring the first SMR online by 2030, despite permitting and cost challenges.Alphabet's Google said on Monday it signed the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors to meet electricity demand for artificial intelligence. The technology company's agreement with Kairos Power aims to bring Kairos' first small modular reactor online by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035. The companies did not reveal financial details of the agreement or where in the U.S. the plants would be built. Google said it has agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is smaller than the output of today's nuclear reactors. "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand ... cleanly in a way that's more around the clock," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, told reporters on a call. Technology firms have signed several recent agreements with nuclear power companies this year as artificial intelligence boosts power demand for the first time in decades. In March, Amazon.com purchased a nuclear-powered datacenter from Talen Energy. Last month, Microsoft and Constellation Energy signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst U.S. nuclear accident in 1979. U.S. data center power use is expected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates, which assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would fill the gap. Kairos will need to get full construction and design permitting from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as permits from local agencies, a process that can take years. Kairos late last year got a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee. "The NRC is ready to efficiently and appropriately review applications for new reactors," said Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesperson. Small modular reactors are intended to be smaller than today's reactors with components built in a factory, instead of onsite, to reduce construction costs. Critics say SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the economy of scale of larger plants. In addition, they will likely produce long-lasting nuclear waste for which the country does not yet have a final repository. Google said by committing to a so-called order book framework with Kairos, instead of buying one reactor at a time, it is sending a demand signal to the market and making a long-term investment to speed development of SMRs. "We're confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule," said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos.
[20]
Google and Kairos sign nuclear reactor deal with aim to power AI
Architect's rendering of the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor facility. Credit: Kairos Power On Monday, Google announced an agreement with Kairos Power to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs), marking the first deal of its kind. The partnership aims to bring Kairos Power's initial SMR online by 2030, with additional reactor deployments planned through 2035. With the energy demands of AI growing, Google has not been alone in encouraging new development of alternative, no-emission power sources. "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies," Google Senior Director of Energy and Climate Michael Terrell said in a press statement. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone." If the Google-Kairos plan succeeds, it will reportedly enable up to 500 MW of carbon-free power to be added to US electricity grids. For Google, it's a key step toward making its headlong rush into power-hungry (and sometimes dubious) AI applications seem environmentally clean and ethical at a time when the world has seen devastating meteorological effects from climate change. Kairos Power's SMR technology reportedly uses a "ceramic pebble-type fuel" that heats steam to generate power through a turbine, although the company has yet to create a working reactor. Kairos broke ground on its "Hermes" non-powered demonstration reactor in Tennessee in July after receiving a construction permit from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and it expects to bring it online by 2027 (slightly earlier than the date Google has cited).
[21]
Google to buy nuclear power for AI datacentres in 'world first' deal
Tech company orders six or seven small nuclear reactors from California's Kairos Power Google has signed a "world first" deal to buy energy from a fleet of mini nuclear reactors to generate the power needed for the rise in use of artificial intelligence. The US tech corporation has ordered six or seven small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from California's Kairos Power, with the first due to be completed by 2030 and the remainder by 2035. Google hopes the deal will provide a low carbon solution to power datacentres, which require huge volumes of electricity. The US company, owned by Alphabet, said nuclear provided "a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands". The explosive growth of generative AI, as well as cloud storage, has increased tech companies' electricity demands. Last month, Microsoft struck a deal to take energy from Three Mile Island, activating the plant for the first time in five years. The site, in Pennsylvania, was the location of the most serious nuclear meltdown in US history, in March 1979. Amazon bought a datacentre powered by nuclear energy in March from Talen Energy. The locations of the new plants and financial details of the agreement were not revealed. Google has agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from Kairos, which was founded in 2016 and is building a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, due to be completed in 2027. Michael Terrell, the senior director for energy and climate at Google, said: "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone." Mike Laufer, the chief executive and co-founder of Kairos, said: "We're confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule." The deal, which is subject to regulatory permits, represents a vote of confidence in SMR technology. The smaller, factory-built power plants are designed to cut the cost overruns and delays often experienced in building bigger plants. However, critics argue that SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the same economy of scale as larger plants. In the UK, companies are bidding to be selected by the government to develop their SMR technologies as ministers aim to revive its nuclear industry. One of the bidders, Rolls-Royce SMR, received a significant boost last month when it was selected by the Czech government to build a fleet of reactors.
[22]
Google to Buy Power for AI Needs from Kairos
Kairos will need to get full construction, design permitting from US Alphabet's Google said on Monday it signed the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors to meet electricity demand for artificial intelligence. The technology company's agreement with Kairos Power aims to bring Kairos' first small modular reactor online by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035. The companies did not reveal financial details of the agreement or where in the US the plants would be built. Google said it has agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is smaller than the output of today's nuclear reactors. "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand ... cleanly in a way that's more around the clock," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, told reporters on a call. Technology firms have signed several recent agreements with nuclear power companies this year as artificial intelligence boosts power demand for the first time in decades. In March, Amazon.com purchased a nuclear-powered datacenter from Talen Energy. Last month, Microsoft and Constellation Energy signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst US nuclear accident in 1979. US data center power use is expected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates, which assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would fill the gap. Kairos will need to get full construction and design permitting from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as permits from local agencies, a process that can take years. Kairos late last year got a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee. "The NRC is ready to efficiently and appropriately review applications for new reactors," said Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesperson. Small modular reactors are intended to be smaller than today's reactors with components built in a factory, instead of onsite, to reduce construction costs. Critics say SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the economy of scale of larger plants. In addition, they will likely produce long-lasting nuclear waste for which the country does not yet have a final repository. Google said by committing to a so-called order book framework with Kairos, instead of buying one reactor at a time, it is sending a demand signal to the market and making a long-term investment to speed development of SMRs. "We're confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule," said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos. © Thomson Reuters 2024
[23]
Google's AI dream will be powered by miniature nuclear reactors in 'world first' deal, though the timeline seems optimistic at best
Okay Google, why does the phrase 'nuclear power startup' give me The Fear? Following news last month about plans to restart one of the Three Mile Island reactors in order to power Microsoft's AI data centres, Google has revealed its own designs for harnessing nuclear energy. In a recent blog post, the tech giant explained they'd signed a "world first" deal with nuclear power startup Kairos Power to build a fleet of SMRs (small modular reactors). It's all in aid of supplying power to Google's own data centres due to the extremely high power consumption of AI. The first reactor is planned to go online in 2030, with further deployments planned up until 2035, likely totalling around six or seven reactors in all. While neither party has yet detailed where these new SMRs will be built, the deal promises to ultimately add "up to 500 [megawatts] of new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids." Naturally, none of that's going to be a straightforward process. SMRs are intended to be a more cost-effective, speedier construct option compared to traditional nuclear power plants. However, as TechCrunch points out, the economics of this largely remain unproven as no commercial SMR has yet been commissioned -- in the US, at least. In Hainan, China, construction of the Linglong One SMR is currently in progress and slated to be completed by 2026 (via South China Morning Post). It's not just the US or China looking towards a future with SMRs; the Czech government has selected Rolls-Royce SMR to build a fleet for them, and the UK is also considering a similar deal with the same company. According to The Guardian, Kairos themselves are currently building a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, though that won't be finished until 2027 (making the Google deal timeline of getting potentially seven SMRs up and at them by 2035 seem just a wee bit optimistic). Furthermore, Kairos Power wants to pave the way forward with reactors cooled by a molten salt form of beryllium fluoride and lithium fluoride, rather than the water-based industry standard. Considering the as-yet-unproven SMRs, plus their emphasis on speedy construction, it's enough to give anyone even slightly nuclear-cautious sweaty palms. It's worth noting too, as TechCrunch highlights, that the US public's opinion on nuclear power remains somewhat split. While 56% of those surveyed by Pew Research are broadly in favour of more nuclear power plants being built, Americans are still more likely to support the expansion of wind (72%) and solar (78%) over nuclear power. It's not hard to see why; besides the fact these two sources of renewable energy tend to be much less costly to harness compared to building a new nuclear power station, there's also a much shorter list of safety concerns. The main issue for Google is that, to meet the round-the-clock power demands of a data centre, you'd need to build a huge battery to ensure you had enough wind or solar-flavoured juice on hand. That is to say, there's definitely still room to innovate in the renewable energy space, so perhaps instead of trying to reinvent the nuclear wheel with Kairos, Google should be trying to grease solar and wind's.
[24]
Google signs nuclear power deal with startup Kairos
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Google on Monday signed a deal to get electricity from small nuclear reactors to help power artificial intelligence. The agreement to buy energy from reactors built by Kairos Power came just weeks after word that Three Mile Island, the site of America's worst nuclear accident, will restart operations to provide energy to Microsoft. "We believe that nuclear energy has a critical role to play in supporting our clean growth and helping to deliver on the progress of AI," Google senior director of energy and climate said during a briefing. "The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build out of these technologies." No financial details were disclosed. Microsoft use of Three Mile Island's nuclear energy will bolster a power grid covering 13 states. This area faces severe strain from data centers' massive energy consumption, raising concerns about grid stability as AI demands increase. Amazon's AWS agreed in March to invest USD650 million in a data center campus powered by another Pennsylvania nuclear plant. Nuclear energy has staunch opponents due to concerns about radioactive waste disposal, the potential for catastrophic accidents, and the high costs associated with plant construction and decommissioning. The 1979 partial meltdown of Unit 2 at Three Mile Island caused panic in the United States and brought the expansion of nuclear energy to a standstill. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission deemed it the "most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power plant operating history," though it noted no detectable health effects on workers or the public from the small radioactive releases.
[25]
Google to buy power from small modular nuclear reactor company Kairos for AI needs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google said on Monday it signed the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors as the technology company looks to meet electricity demand from artificial intelligence. The agreement with Kairos Power aims to bring Kairos' first small modular reactor online by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035. The companies did not reveal financial details of the agreement or where in the U.S. the plants would be built. Google said it has agreed to buy 500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is smaller than the output of today's nuclear reactors. "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand ... cleanly in a way that's more around the clock," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, told reporters on a call. Technology firms have signed several recent agreements with nuclear power companies this year as artificial intelligence boosts power demand for the first time in decades. In March, Amazon.com purchased a nuclear-powered datacenter from Talen Energy. Last month, Microsoft and Constellation Energy signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst U.S. nuclear accident in 1979. U.S. data center power use is expected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates, which assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would fill the gap. The Google deal will depend on Kairos getting full permitting from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local agencies. Kairos late last year got a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee. But Kairos needs design and construction permits from the NRC for the reactors in the deal announced on Monday. Small modular reactors are intended to be smaller than today's reactors with components built in a factory, instead of onsite, to help cut construction costs. Critics say SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the economy of scale of larger plants. In addition, they will likely produce long-lasting nuclear waste for which the country does not yet have a final repository. Google said by committing to a so-called order book framework with Kairos, instead of buying one reactor at a time, it is sending a demand signal to the market and making a long-term investment to speed development of SMRs. "We're confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule," said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
[26]
Google to buy power for AI needs from small modular nuclear reactor company Kairos
Alphabet logo and AI Artificial Intelligence words are seen in this illustration taken, May 4, 2023. Reuters-Yonhap Alphabet's Google said on Monday it signed the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors to meet electricity demand for artificial intelligence. The technology company's agreement with Kairos Power aims to bring Kairos' first small modular reactor online by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035. The companies did not reveal financial details of the agreement or where in the U.S. the plants would be built. Google said it has agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is smaller than the output of today's nuclear reactors. "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand ... cleanly in a way that's more around the clock," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, told reporters on a call. Technology firms have signed several recent agreements with nuclear power companies this year as artificial intelligence boosts power demand for the first time in decades. In March, Amazon.com purchased a nuclear-powered datacenter from Talen Energy. Last month, Microsoft and Constellation Energy signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst U.S. nuclear accident in 1979. U.S. data center power use is expected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates, which assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would fill the gap. Kairos will need to get full construction and design permitting from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as permits from local agencies, a process that can take years. Kairos late last year got a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee. "The NRC is ready to efficiently and appropriately review applications for new reactors," said Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesperson. Small modular reactors are intended to be smaller than today's reactors with components built in a factory, instead of onsite, to reduce construction costs. Critics say SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the economy of scale of larger plants. In addition, they will likely produce long-lasting nuclear waste for which the country does not yet have a final repository. Google said by committing to a so-called order book framework with Kairos, instead of buying one reactor at a time, it is sending a demand signal to the market and making a long-term investment to speed development of SMRs. "We're confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule," said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos. (Reuters)
[27]
Google to buy power from small modular nuclear reactor company Kairos for AI needs
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google said on Monday it signed the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors as the technology company looks to meet electricity demand from artificial intelligence. The agreement with Kairos Power aims to bring Kairos' first small modular reactor online by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035. The companies did not reveal financial details of the agreement or where in the U.S. the plants would be built. Google said it has agreed to buy 500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is smaller than the output of today's nuclear reactors. Advertisement · Scroll to continue "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand ... cleanly in a way that's more around the clock," Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google, told reporters on a call. Technology firms have signed several recent agreements with nuclear power companies this year as artificial intelligence boosts power demand for the first time in decades. In March, Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab purchased a nuclear-powered datacenter from Talen Energy (TLN.O), opens new tab. Last month, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Constellation Energy (CEG.O), opens new tab signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst U.S. nuclear accident in 1979. Advertisement · Scroll to continue U.S. data center power use is expected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates, which assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would fill the gap. The Google deal will depend on Kairos getting full permitting from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local agencies. Kairos late last year got a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee. But Kairos needs design and construction permits from the NRC for the reactors in the deal announced on Monday. Small modular reactors are intended to be smaller than today's reactors with components built in a factory, instead of onsite, to help cut construction costs. Critics say SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the economy of scale of larger plants. In addition, they will likely produce long-lasting nuclear waste for which the country does not yet have a final repository. Google said by committing to a so-called order book framework with Kairos, instead of buying one reactor at a time, it is sending a demand signal to the market and making a long-term investment to speed development of SMRs. "We're confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule," said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos. Reporting by Timothy Gardner Editing by Bill Berkrot Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Timothy Gardner Thomson Reuters Timothy reports on energy and environment policy and is based in Washington, D.C. His coverage ranges from the latest in nuclear power, to environment regulations, to U.S. sanctions and geopolitics. He has been a member of three teams in the past two years that have won Reuters best journalism of the year awards. As a cyclist he is happiest outside.
[28]
Google is going nuclear to power AI
California's new $20 minimum wage for fast food workers didn't cost jobs, study says The tech giant has commissioned several new small modular reactors (SMRs) from Alameda, California-based nuclear power startup Kairos Power, Google parent Alphabet announced Monday. Under the agreement, Google plans to get the first power plant online by 2030, followed by additional reactor deployments through 2035. The deal will add 500 megawatts of power to U.S. electric grids, as it looks to satisfy growing electricity demands from its data centers using carbon-free energy sources. The company said this "helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone." The announcement follows an agreement between Microsoft (MSFT) and energy firm Constellation (CEG) last month that will reopen one of the nuclear reactors on Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island to power Microsoft's data centers. An independent but neighboring reactor at the nuclear site was home to the the worst meltdown ever at a U.S. commercial nuclear power plant in 1979. The Microsoft project, known as the Crane Clean Energy Center, is expected to go online in 2028, the company said. It's expected to provide upwards of 800 MW to the grid. Google's partnership with Kairos is its latest effort to scale up its energy capacity, as AI continues to bring energy supply questions to the fore. Last November, Google developed a geothermal project with developer Fervo Energy that supplies power to its data centers in Nevada. The company has said it hopes to entirely operate its data centers and office campuses using 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. Google's greenhouse gas emissions rose by 48% between 2019 and 2023, it disclosed in a sustainability report earlier this year. Also in 2023, total data center electricity consumption at Google grew 17% -- a "trend" it said it expects will continue. Google attributed this surge to increases in data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions, particularly as the company continues to integrate AI into its products. And this will be an industry-wide adjustment. The International Energy Agency estimated in its latest annual forecast that the total electricity consumption of data centers -- which house computing systems -- could reach more than 1,000 terawatt hours in 2026. For scale, a single Google search uses 0.3 watt-hours of electricity, while a request for OpenAI's ChatGPT takes 2.9 watt-hours, the agency found. If there were 9 billion ChatGPT queries daily, this would require almost 10 terawatt hours of additional electricity in a year.
[29]
Google's nuclear move shows Big Tech is spreading the love
Catch up quick: Google inked a deal with Kairos Power for deployment of 500 megawatts' worth of SMRs by 2035, with the first targeted to arrive by 2030. Why it matters: It's Google's first nuclear foray as the tech giant -- and its peers -- hunt for zero-carbon power to fuel energy-thirsty AI data centers. Google's plan is vague right now. The company and Kairos offered no specifics on the costs, financial timelines, or other money matters. Nor are there location details. It could have effects beyond Google. Power researcher Jesse Jenkins said Google is using its purchasing power to "create early market pull to help commercialize advanced clean firm power technologies." Reality check: SMRs face big regulatory, financial and other hurdles. And for now, the wider data center build-out looks bullish for fossil fuels. The bottom line: Tech giants have deep pockets and face strong pressure to fuel AI without lots of new emissions, and that could help knock those SMR barriers down.
[30]
Google's nuclear power plan could revolutionize cryptocurrency mining
A new paradigm for the production of nuclear energy could change the calculus for both artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining, but it requires substantial upfront investment in relatively untested technologies. The US will soon develop and deploy its first commercial small modular reactor (SMR). An SMR is a nuclear power source with a much smaller infrastructure footprint than traditional fission reactor plants. These so-called "next generation" reactors are also purported to be much safer. Small modular reactors While small reactors have been around since at least the 1950s, the advent of SMRs could serve as a game-changer for large organizations such as AI training and data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities. Unlike traditional reactors, SMRs can be manufactured in a factory and then shipped to a client's location. Functionally, these platforms can be set up to produce as much as 300 megawatts of energy and could feasibly be built almost anywhere. Crypto mining's power problem There are currently hundreds of peer-reviewed research articles available on the subject of cryptocurrency and clean energy. Many large mining companies have begun exploring nuclear power as a safe, clean alternative to traditional energy infrastructure. Related: TeraWulf goes nuclear: 8,000 rigs spool up in Nautilus mining facility However, the primary factors keeping the average cryptocurrency mining facility or artificial intelligence data center from relying on nuclear energy are availability and the high upfront costs of construction. SMRs solve some of those problems. They're purportedly easier to develop, require less maintenance and operational staff, environmentally friendly, and are theoretically substantially more economically feasible over the long term than alternative solutions including large nuclear reactors. However, they still require a significant upfront investment to develop. Google's new deal Kairos Power, a United States-based nuclear engineering company, recently inked a long-term deal with Google to develop and bring the company's first SMR online "quickly and safely by 2030," with continuing rollouts planned through 2035. Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google, lauded the deal as a win for clean energy: "This landmark announcement will accelerate the transition to clean energy as Google and Kairos Power look to add 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids." Google's commitment to developing what may ultimately become the first commercial US-based SMR manufacturing partnership represents the opening bell for the nascent commercial nuclear power industry. While not every company has pockets as deep as Google-parent corporation Alphabet, the cost of entry for on-site nuclear power is likely to drop as the first generation of SMRs are manufactured and improved upon over time. Ultimately, barring a fusion breakthrough, SMRs could be the cryptocurrency mining industry's most economically efficient and environmentally friendly method for energy generation.
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Google and Microsoft are investing in nuclear energy to power their AI data centers, addressing the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence while aiming for carbon-free operations.
In a significant shift towards sustainable energy solutions, major technology companies are turning to nuclear power to fuel their rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) operations. Google and Microsoft are at the forefront of this trend, striking deals with nuclear energy providers to power their energy-intensive AI data centers [1][2].
Google has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Kairos Power, a California-based nuclear engineering company. The agreement involves the construction of six to seven small modular reactors (SMRs) by 2035, with the first expected to be operational by 2030 [2][3]. This deal marks the world's first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from SMRs, adding 500 megawatts of carbon-free power to the U.S. grid [4].
Michael Terrell, Google's senior director for energy and climate, emphasized the importance of this move: "The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build out of these technologies" [1]. Google aims to leverage nuclear energy to meet its growing demand cleanly and more consistently around the clock.
Not to be outdone, Microsoft has entered into an agreement with Constellation Energy to revive a defunct reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania [1][5]. This controversial move involves reopening a facility that experienced the most serious nuclear meltdown in U.S. history in 1979. Microsoft plans to purchase all the electricity generated by the reactor for the next 20 years, demonstrating a long-term commitment to nuclear energy [5].
The push towards nuclear power is driven by the enormous energy requirements of AI technologies. Training cutting-edge AI models like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini can consume immense amounts of energy, potentially generating up to 626,000 pounds of CO2 per model – equivalent to 300 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco [2].
Both Google and Microsoft frame these initiatives as part of their broader environmental goals. Google, which has seen its emissions rise by 48% since 2019 primarily due to AI investments, views nuclear energy as a carbon-free solution to support its net-zero ambitions [4][5]. The company is also exploring other clean energy sources, such as geothermal power, to complement its renewable energy portfolio [5].
As the AI industry continues to grow, the demand for reliable, clean energy sources is expected to increase. The moves by Google and Microsoft may set a precedent for other tech companies to follow. Amazon has already secured its own nuclear energy deal, indicating a broader industry trend [2][3].
The shift towards nuclear power in the tech sector raises important questions about the future of energy infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and the responsible development of AI technologies. As these projects progress, they will likely face scrutiny from regulators, environmental groups, and the public, shaping the landscape of AI-driven innovation and energy policy for years to come.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai reveals the company's interest in nuclear energy, particularly small modular reactors, to power AI data centers while striving to meet ambitious climate targets. This move reflects a broader trend among tech giants seeking sustainable energy solutions for their growing AI operations.
4 Sources
Tech giants like Microsoft and Google are eyeing nuclear power for their AI data centers, but regulatory and infrastructure challenges may delay implementation. The move aims to reduce carbon footprints and meet growing energy demands of AI technologies.
13 Sources
Microsoft is considering a groundbreaking plan to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to supply electricity to its AI data centers. This move could potentially reshape the future of both nuclear energy and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
55 Sources
Microsoft signs a groundbreaking deal to power its AI operations with nuclear energy from Three Mile Island, signaling a shift in the tech industry's approach to sustainable power for AI infrastructure.
2 Sources
Microsoft plans to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power its AI data centers, raising questions about taxpayer risk and nuclear safety in the pursuit of clean energy for tech giants.
7 Sources