Global technology giants have found a solution to the high energy demand of their data centers. Most Big Techs have committed to zero carbon emissions by 2030 and one of the chosen paths is nuclear. Although nuclear power guarantees no carbon emissions, it has other problems, particularly with regard to radioactive waste.
The nuclear power plants that have been announced were deactivated, which means that they are not modern, which implies, for example, obtaining licenses, with the corresponding inspections and hiring specialized professionals. But probably more importantly, they generate radioactive waste. Its radioactivity remains active for 50 to 300 years.
New plants are greener, but involve higher investments than reactivating older ones. And they don’t become ready to work overnight. Finally, the cost of the energy produced is not affordable, and can cost 2 to 4 times more than solar energy.
Constellation Energy announced it will reactivate the 837 MW Three Mile Island Unit 1, which has been idled for five years, to support a 20-year partnership with Microsoft announced in September to power data centers in the Mid-Atlantic region. An investment of $1.6 billion to restart Three Mile Island. Reactor No. 2 at this plant suffered a partial meltdown in 1979. There were no injuries and no one died, but it set back the nuclear industry for years. Only two new plants have been opened since the accident.
Amazon Web Services and Talen Energy Corporation entered into a 10-year partnership in March 2024 to purchase power in 120 MW increments from the 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to power a 960 MW data center campus.
Additionally, Amazon is part of a consortium that has committed $500 million to X-energy with the goal of installing 5 GW of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) capacity in the U.S. by 2039. As a first step, Amazon and Energy Northwest will develop four SMRs with a combined capacity of 320 MW in Washington state.
In May 2023, Helion Energy entered into a PPA with Microsoft for at least 50 MW of its first fusion power plant, scheduled for completion in Washington state by 2028.
In October, Google signed a deal with Kairos Power to develop 500 MW of SMRs near data centers starting in 2030.
Government data shows that power demand from data centers in the U.S. is expected to double in five years, from 176 TWh in 2023 to between 325 and 580 TWh in 2028. Unlike traditional water-cooled fission reactors, fusion has not yet been used commercially for power generation.
He says reopening the existing Three Mile Island facility would be faster and less expensive than building a new nuclear plant. “At least 10 times cheaper than building a new factory,” he said. “And we think we could have it up and running in about three years, as opposed to the last plant that was built, which took almost 10 years.”
Therefore, while Microsoft is betting on what already exists and recovering what was deactivated, Amazon and Google are announcing large investments in nuclear energy through the creation of new plants.
Google, which already invests heavily in green energy, opted for SMRs, small modular reactors. “These are not the nuclear plants of yesterday with the huge cooling towers,” said Michael Terrell, who leads Google’s decarbonization efforts. “They are much smaller facilities. But, as they are modular, it is possible to stack them to create larger plants.
But, as I mentioned above, the most modern reactors take time to put into operation. So it’s not surprising that Terrell points to 2023 as the target date for the first advanced nuclear reactor. “And we won’t just make one reactor, but we hope to buy from a series of reactors that will come after it.” Terrell’s Promise.
Through Kairos Power, which Google is funding to design and build this new generation of reactors, three small demonstration plants are under construction in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on the same site where uranium was processed for the first atomic bomb.
Kairos CEO Mike Laufer explained that its reactors use small, golf-ball-sized fuel balls — mostly graphite, with tiny grains of uranium. Each one has the energy capacity equivalent to four tons of coal. And with zero carbon emissions.
These reactors have lower power and less pressure than traditional reactors, which means less risk.
What do SMR and SkyNet have in common?
One of the most common allusions when we talk about AI is Skynet and John Connor, referring to the Terminator saga.
But, like these films, SMRs are alsostill in the field of fiction. “There’s just one problem with small modular reactors: They don’t really exist,” says Sharon Squassoni, a professor at George Washington University.
Squassoni spent 15 years researching nuclear safety for the government and believes big tech companies could be in for some nasty surprises. “I think they’ll find out very soon that it takes a long time and it’s very expensive,” he said.
Squassoni is just one of the people who questions this bet.
If, on the one hand, the option to reactivate nuclear doesn’t offer a truly green or sustainable solution, on the other, there is nothing to indicate that the promises to deliver modern reactors will be fulfilled.
