Why is Big Tech scouting for nuclear power? | Explained

Cooling towers are seen through a window at the Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant, during a tour by Constellation Energy, which has ordered a main power transformer for the nuclear reactor it is trying to reopen, in Middletown, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 16, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The story so far: On October 14, Google announced the “first corporate agreement” to buy nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMR). These SMRs will be developed by Kairos Power. The initial phase of work will bring up the first SMR by 2030, and subsequent deployments will continue through 2035. Per Google, this deal will provide 500 MW of carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grid. The search giant said this agreement will help in the development of AI technologies to power major scientific advances.

Why does Google want to buy nuclear energy?

Training AI models, ensuring that they remain always online, and maintaining growing data centres are energy-hungry tasks. In a 2024 Environmental Report, Google admitted that its total global greenhouse gas emissions rose by 13% in 2023 year-over-year, pointing to the “challenge of reducing emissions while compute intensity increases and we grow our technical infrastructure investment to support this AI transition.” Google has held that nuclear energy was clean, available round-the-clock (unlike solar energy), and carbon-free. In that vein, the search giant sees the next generation nuclear reactors as a way to power global data centres and its offices with the help of clean energy. Smaller sizes and modular designs further help the tech giant in faster deployment cycles.

Which other companies are partnering with nuclear reactor makers?

On September 20, Microsoft and Constellation signed a 20-year power purchase agreement intended to launch the Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC) and restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1. The deal should add around 835 MW of carbon-free energy to the grid, according to Constellation’s statement.

“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,” said Bobby Hollis, Microsoft’s VP of Energy, at the time.

Amazon this month also announced that it signed three new agreements to support nuclear energy projects, such as the construction of SMRs. In Washington, it partnered with Energy Northwest. It was further making an investment in SMR reactors and fuel developer X-energy, and partnering with Dominion Energy in Virginia.

“We also previously signed an agreement to co-locate a data centre facility next to the Talen Energy’s nuclear facility in Pennsylvania, which will directly power our data centres with carbon-free energy, and helps preserve this existing reactor,” Amazon said in a blog post.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed the nuclear startup Oklo, which aims to build a commercial microreactor in Idaho and have it operational in 2027, though delays could affect this, reported CNBC. Altman also invested in the nuclear fusion company Helion in 2021.

Is nuclear energy truly clean?

This is still a matter of debate. The main takeaway is that nuclear energy has a serious reputation problem, due to public memory of past accidents and crises that span generations.

For example, Ukraine’s Chernobyl explosion (1986) and Japan’s Fukushima accident (2011) resulted in extensive environmental destruction that lasted for years, even as the impact on human health is still being researched. While Chernobyl is a case study on multiple human errors and a communication breakdown, Fukushima demonstrates how natural disasters beyond human control – such as a tsunami – can lead to a devastating nuclear accident.

Separately, in the U.S., the Three Mile Island accident of 1979 in Unit 2 of the facility’s nuclear generating station involved a combination of a malfunctioning valve and human errors, resulting in the core overheating and releasing radioactive gases. While not considered overly dangerous to the surrounding population, it is regarded as one of the worst industrial nuclear accidents in American history. Microsoft’s deal with Constellation aims to start Unit 1 again; Unit 2 was decommissioned after the accident.

Many environmental groups are actively protesting against nuclear energy and the way it is being presented as “clean energy.” ‘Friends of the Earth,’ an international network of organisations, said on its website in 2018, “Since it was first commercialized, nuclear power has proven to be one of the dirtiest, most dangerous and most expensive sources of energy. Nuclear reactors have a long history of accidents, leaks, extended outages and skyrocketing costs.”

The organisation also pointed out the dangers of nuclear infrastructure being built over earthquake-prone areas.

But there is hope in SMRs as they have potentially lower building and operational costs. A U.S. Department of Energy report noted that SMRs have compact designs and can function in areas unable to withstand larger or older nuclear power plants that require huge volumes of water.

What is the U.S. government’s stance on nuclear energy?

Apart from seeing nuclear power as one source of clean energy, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy highlighted the importance of re-establishing the U.S. as a nuclear leader, to stay ahead of China and Russia.

Dr. Rita Baranwal, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, noted, “As the use of nuclear energy continues to expand internationally, it is crucial that the United States reasserts itself as a leader in this incredible technology. Existing U.S. nuclear plants prevent almost 500 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year—the equivalent of taking 100 million cars off the roads.”