Google to buy nuclear power for AI datacentres in ‘world first’ deal

Tech company orders six or seven small nuclear reactors from California’s Kairos Power

Google has signed a “world first” deal to buy energy from a fleet of mini nuclear reactors to generate the power needed for the rise in use of artificial intelligence.

The US tech corporation has ordered six or seven small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from California’s Kairos Power, with the first due to be completed by 2030 and the remainder by 2035.

Google hopes the deal will provide a low-carbon solution to power datacentres, which require huge volumes of electricity. The company, owned by Alphabet, said nuclear provided “a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands”.

The explosive growth of generative AI, as well as cloud storage, has increased tech companies’ electricity demands. Last month, Microsoft struck a deal to take energy from Three Mile Island, activating the nuclear plant for the first time in five years. The site, in Pennsylvania, was the location of the most serious reactor meltdown in US history, in March 1979.

Amazon bought a datacentre powered by nuclear energy in March, also in Pennsylvania, from Talen Energy.

The locations of the new Google plants and financial details of the agreement were not revealed. The tech company has agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from Kairos, which was founded in 2016 and is building a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, due to be completed in 2027.

Michael Terrell, the senior director for energy and climate at Google, said: “The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth.

“This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”

Mike Laufer, the chief executive and co-founder of Kairos, said: “We’re confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule.”

The deal, which is subject to regulatory permits, represents a vote of confidence in SMR technology. The smaller, factory-built power plants are designed to cut the cost overruns and delays often experienced in building bigger plants. However, critics argue that SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the same economy of scale as larger plants.

SMRs are defined as reactors with a maximum output of 300 megawatts (MW) that can produce more than 7m kilowatt hours a day. However, some designs are larger than this and the term is often simply used to describe factory-built, modular plants.

Large nuclear power plants typically have an output of more than a gigawatt and the planned plant at Hinkley Point C in Somerset is expected to produce 3.2GW, enough electricity to power 6m homes.

In the UK, companies are bidding to be selected by the government to develop their SMR technologies as ministers aim to revive the country’s nuclear industry.

One of the bidders, Rolls-Royce SMR, received a significant boost last month when it was selected by the Czech government to build a fleet of reactors. Rolls has said one of its SMRs would be a tenth of the size of a large power plant and produce enough power for a million homes.

It has been argued that SMRs can complement output from large-scale reactors as countries attempt to move away from power generated by fossil fuels. Proponents argue that they provide a more flexible approach to constructing new nuclear plants, as they require less cooling water and a smaller footprint, opening up a greater variety of potential site locations.

However, environmental campaigners and academics have argued against the technology, claiming they have no proven UK track record and that resources would be better spent on renewables such as more offshore wind.

Cover photo: By The Guardian