Will Nuclear Energy Power AI Data Centers? Timeline of Developments, Proponents and Safety Discussions

Nuclear energy is emerging as a possible solution to power AI data centers without generating carbon emissions. But business strategies, government policies and consumer opinions about safety vary from country to country.

The central issue facing data center providers and cloud-scale companies is easily explained:

• On average, a generative AI query involving ChatGPT needs nearly 10 times as much electricity to process compared to a Google search, Goldman Sachs asserts.
• As AI application demand and associated AI workloads surge, data center power demand will grow 160% by 2030 compared to 2023 or so, Goldman Sachs added.
• The largest grid operator in the United States, PJM Interconnection, in July 2024 warned that power supply and demand is tightening as construction of new generation lags demand, CNBC noted.
• Meanwhile, the United States is racing to compete against Russia and China on multiple nuclear and energy transition fronts.

Amid that backdrop, numerous parties -- including venture capitalists, private equity firms, energy companies and technology businesses -- are pushing nuclear energy and SMRs (small modular reactors) as a power source for data centers. But some critics express SMR and nuclear energy safety concerns, while other critics worry about safely storing nuclear waste for decades to come.

Check this blog regularly for status updates tracking the latest nuclear reactor and power projects in the data center and IT services sector, associated government policy updates, and the debate about nuclear energy safety.

Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers: November 2024 News and Updates

November 14 - United Kingdom and Nuclear Energy: Great British Nuclear, the UK government's nuclear energy agency, will seek bids from four companies to supply small modular reactors (SMRs) to boost the country's power generation, The Register reported.

November 14 - Global Nuclear Energy Expansion: Thirty-one countries plan to triple their nuclear energy capacity by 2050, according to the World Nuclear Association.

November 13 - United States Nuclear Energy Investments: The United States will aim to deploy 200 GW of net new nuclear energy capacity by 2050, at least tripling current U.S. nuclear energy capacity, according to the Biden Administration.

November 8 - Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Challenges: NuScale Power, a provider of small modular reactors (SMRs), sees opportunity ahead for nuclear power in the AI data center market. But near-term revenues remain challenging.

November 8 - Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Testing: Texas A&M University has potential sites available for multiple companies to test and construct next generation nuclear reactors, the university disclosed.

November 7 - Supercomputer - Nuclear Fusion Research: ENEA, a National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, plans to deploy a Lenovo HPC system at the Portici (Naples) hub. The goal: Accelerate research activities on clean energy, in particular on nuclear fusion, the organizations said.

November 6 - Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Research: The global small modular reactor (SMR) market will reach $6.48 billion by 2031, up from $5.72 billion in 2023, DataM Intelligence predicted. That's a 1.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). That's a remarkably slow growth rate considering the hype about SMRs as a potential power source for AI data centers.

November 6 - AWS Nuclear Commitment: Amazon.com has said it will continue to back a deal for an AWS data center in Pennsylvania powered by Talen Energy's nuclear power plant, despite regulatory pushback, SeekingAlpha reported.

November 4: Feds Block Nuclear Partnership Expansion: The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected an expanded Amazon-Talen Energy nuclear power agreement. FERC members said the deal could raise power bills for the public and affect the grid's reliability, SeekingAlpha reported. Talen Energy is "exploring other solutions" to move forward. The news pressured multiple nuclear energy stocks.

Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers: October 2024 News, Milestones, Policies and Safely Debates

Multiple Updates...

• Cloud Services: Amazon has signed a nuclear power agreement with Energy Northwest. The deal, focused on the state of Washington, will enable the development of four SMRs (small modular reactors), the company said.
• Japan - Nuclear Power: Japan has restarted a nuclear reactor that is located near the site of a 2011 earthquake. The Onagawa nuclear reactor restart is a "big milestone" in the country's atomic revival, Bloomberg reported.
• Startup - SMRs and Data Centers: Deep Atomic, a nuclear energy startup, plans to introduce a new small modular reactor (SMR) designed to power data centers, the company said. We don't know planned timing for the launch. Deep Atomic is based in Zurich, Switzerland, with additional offices in South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom. CEO William Theron also is founder of Nova Data Centers -- a developer of modular, self-contained AI data centers.
• Relaunch?: Nextera Energy is "very interested" in reviving a closed nuclear power plant in Iowa, Bloomberg reported. Multiple energy and big tech companies are exploring nuclear solutions to power generative AI data centers. Related Timeline: Why Nuclear Energy May Power AI Data Centers.
• Three Mile Island - Regulatory Discussions: U.S. nuclear regulators kicked off a long-winding process to consider Constellation Energy's unprecedented plans to restart its retired Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, Reuters reported.
• Three Mile Island - Potential Restore Costs: The effort to restore Unit 1 at Three Mile Island is expected to take four years, at least $1.6 billion, and thousands of workers to complete the unprecedented task of restarting a retired nuclear plant, Reuters reported. Constellation Energy is restarting the plant, which Microsoft will leverage for energy.
• Nuclear Energy - Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Doubts: SMRs are not economically feasible, NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum said during the energy company's earnings call.
• Potential M&A: Ubitus K.K, a cloud services company backed by Nvidia, is looking to acquire land to build a data center in Kyoto, Shimane, or a prefecture in Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, owing to the availability of nuclear power in the region, Bloomberg reported and SeekingAlpha recapped.
• Investment: Amazon Climate Pledge Fund has invested in nuclear startup X-energy, a developer of small modular reactors.
• Asia - Power Strategy: Amazon prefers to leverage wind and solar energy rather than nuclear power in Asia, Bloomberg reported.
• Partnership - Cloud Services: Google has partnered with Kairos Power to deploy small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to support its 24/7 carbon-free energy targets by 2035.
• Data Centers - Nuclear Power: Google may tap nuclear energy to power its data centers, CEO Sundar Pichai told Nikkei Asia.

Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers: September 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Nuclear Power Rollouts: The nuclear power industry is set to add “gigawatts upon gigawatts” of capacity heading into the 2030s, while offshore wind in the U.S. sorts out its business model, according to GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Financial Services: Fourteen of the world's biggest banks and financial institutions will pledge increased support for nuclear energy in a bid to unlock financing for the nuclear power sector, the Financial Times reported and a SeekingAlpha recapped.
• Partnership - Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): Caddis Cloud Solutions and IP3 Corporation are partnering to advance small modular reactors (SMRs) to power data centers.
• Microsoft and Three Mile Island Partnership: Constellation Energy and Microsoft have signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in what would be the first-ever restart of its kind, Reuters reported. Microsoft, rivals and tech investors are exploring various nuclear energy options to power AI data centers.
• Amazon Seeks to Hire Nuclear Power Help: Amazon Web Services is seeking to hire a principal nuclear engineer who can has experience in "end-to-end nuclear power project development process from design, regulatory licensing, site permitting, constructability and operations," the company said. The Amazon Web Services hire will be expected to "influence key external partners such as OEMs and developers to design operationally efficient and safe modular nuclear plants" that can deliver "carbon free capacity" to AWS data centers.
• Italy Reconsiders Nuclear Power: Italy plans to draft, by early 2025, rules to allow the use of new nuclear power technologies, Reuters reported, signaling a potential reversal of the country's current ban on nuclear power production.
• Startup Funding: Micro-nuclear power plant developer Last Energy has raised $40 million in Series B funding. Of Last Energy’s initial customer agreements, 39 of the 80 units will be built to serve data center developers. Gigafund led the round, with participation from Autodesk Foundation and various family offices. 
• United States Nuclear Power Strategy: With electricity demand surging across the United States, nuclear power advocates want to restart some of the 13 reactors that closed in the last decade, saying their carbon-free energy is needed more than ever, Bloomberg reports. But only a handful of retired nuclear plants have a realistic chance of being revived, analysts say — perhaps as few as three, the report asserts.

Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers: August 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• Startup Funding: Aalo Atomics has raised $27 million in Series A funding. Key investors include 50Y, Valor Equity Partners, Harpoon Ventures, Crosscut, SNR, Alumni Ventures, Preston Werner, Earth Venture, Garage Capital, Wayfinder, Jeff Dean, Nucleation Capital, and more. Special thanks to Earth Venture Capital for the heads up.
• M&A - Nuclear Energy Consulting: Private equity firm Pelican Energy Partners has acquired GSE Solutions, a provider of nuclear engineering solutions that "support the future of clean-energy production and decarbonization initiatives of the power industry."
• New Power Plants for Data Centers?: The immense energy demands of data centers will likely require building natural gas-burning power plants, solar and wind farms and perhaps small nuclear reactors, said new American Electric Power CEO Bill Fehrman, according to Bloomberg.

Note: Continue to next page for earlier updates involving nuclear power for AI data centers.