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: September 2024 News, Milestones, Policies and Safely Debates

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.

Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers: July 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• M&A - Nuclear Waste Management: Perma-Fix Environmental Services has acquired the Environmental Waste Operations Center (EWOC) near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Australia Nuclear Debate: A plan by Australia's federal opposition that would slow the roll-out of renewable power and build a network of nuclear reactors has set the scene for a divisive confrontation on climate policy ahead of an election expected in 2024, Reuters reported.
• Italy - Nuclear Energy Policy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government is planning to reintroduce nuclear energy 35 years after Italy shut down its last atomic plant, in a bid to lower the country’s carbon emissions, News.Az reports citing the Financial Times.
• United States - Virginia Nuclear Power: Dominion Energy Virginia has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to determine the feasibility of small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology. Proponents believe SMR technology can deliver nuclear power in a cost-effective, carbon-free way -- though critics continue to worry about the long-term storage and disposal of nuclear waste.

Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers: June 2024 Updates

Multiple updates...

• China vs. United States - Nuclear Power: The U.S. may be 15 years behind China on developing high-tech nuclear power, Reuters reported, as Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute.
• United States - Nuclear Energy Power Plants: The United States could revive some of its recently retired nuclear power plants to help meet rising demand for zero-emissions electricity, or add reactors to existing sites, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters.
• AI Data Centers Require U.S. Nuclear Power: Surging electricity demand for artificial intelligence and data centers means next-generation nuclear power “can’t fail,” according to a top U.S. Energy Department official, Bloomberg reported.
• South Korea Energy Strategy: South Korea should target major additions of renewables and nuclear power by the late 2030s to curb emissions and meet surging demand from data centers to semiconductor manufacturing, according to a government proposal, as reported by Bloomberg.

Note: Continue to page 2 for earlier updates involving nuclear power for AI data centers.