Google is turning to nuclear power to help fuel its artificial intelligence push. On Monday, the company saying will partner with startup Kairos Power to build seven small nuclear reactors in the United States. The agreement aims to add 500 megawatts of nuclear power from small modular reactors (SMR) by the end of the decade. The first is expected to be operational in 2030 and the rest until 2035.
It is the first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear power from SMR. Small modular reactors are smaller than existing reactors. Its components are built within a factory rather than on-site, which can help reduce construction costs compared to large-scale plants.
Kairos will need the U.S. 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 expected online date of 2027. The company already builds test units (without nuclear fuel components) at a development facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it evaluates components, systems and its supply chain.
The companies did not announce financial details of the deal. Google says the structure of the deal will help keep costs down and get power online sooner.
“By sourcing electricity from multiple reactors – what experts call a 'letter of orders' of reactors – we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments needed to reduce costs and bring Kairos Power's technology to market more quickly,” said Michael Terrell, Google's senior director for energy and climate, wrote in a blog post. “This is an important part of our approach to expanding the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities, and builds on our previous efforts.”
The rise of ai (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 reached an agreement with Constellation Energy to bring a unit of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania back online. In March, amazon amazon-data-center-deal-2024-07-05/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:bought;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>bought a nuclear-powered data center from Talen Energy.