Search giant Google is turning to nuclear reactors to power its Artificial Intelligence data centers, which many big tech companies now label as “green energy.”
The news came after Microsoft and Constellation Energy unveiled a power purchase deal, enabling a reactor restart at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
Big tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are aggressively expanding their data center capabilities to meet the AI revolution’s computing needs while scouring for sources of electricity, Science Alert said.
On Monday, Google signed a deal with Kairos Power to purchase electricity from small nuclear reactors in order to power its AI operations.
“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 Michael Terrell said during a briefing.
“The grid needs these kinds of clean, reliable sources of energy that can support the build-out of these technologies,” he said.
According to The Expose:
“The first small modular reactor (“SMR”) developed by Kairos is expected to be online by the end of the decade with additional reactors coming online through 2035, generating a combined total of 500 megawatts of power. SMRs are more compact and potentially easier to deploy than traditional nuclear reactors, with big investments by Bill Gates in the sector, but the technology is still in its infancy and lacks regulatory approval.”
The partnership is a major step towards achieving its goal of abundant carbon-free energy from nuclear power, driven by the need for a consistent source of power that is seen as more reliable than solar and wind power.
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