Google partners with Kairos Power to use small nuclear reactors, powering AI data centers and supporting decarbonization amid rising energy demands.
Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to generate energy to power its artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The company says the agreement with Kairos Power will see it start using the first reactor this decade and bring more online by 2035.
The companies did not provide details about the deal’s value or where the plants would be built. Technology firms are increasingly turning to nuclear energy sources to supply the electricity used by the huge data centers that drive AI.
“The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies,” said Michael Terrell, senior director for energy and climate at Google. “This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”
Kairos executive Jeff Olson said the deal with Google “is important to accelerate the commercialization of advanced nuclear energy by demonstrating the technical and market viability of a solution critical to decarbonizing power grids. “
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The plans must still be approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local agencies before proceeding. Last year, US regulators gave California-based Kairos Power the first permit in 50 years to build a new nuclear reactor. In July, the company started construction of a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.
The startup specializes in developing smaller reactors that use molten fluoride salt as a coolant instead of water, which traditional nuclear plants use. Nuclear power, which is virtually carbon-free and provides electricity 24 hours a day, has become increasingly attractive to the tech industry, attempting to cut emissions while using more energy.
According to Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs, global energy consumption by data centers is expected to more than double by the end of the decade. John Moore, Industry Editor for the TechTarget website, told the BBC that AI data centers need large amounts of electricity to power them and keep equipment cool.
“These data centers are equipped with specialized hardware… that require lots of power, that generate lots of heat”. At a United Nations Climate Change Conference last year, the US joined a group of countries that want to triple their nuclear energy capacity by 2050 as part of efforts to move away from fossil fuels. However, critics say nuclear power is not risk-free and produces long-lasting radioactive waste.
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Last month, Microsoft reached a deal to restart operations at the Three Mile Island energy plant, the site of America’s worst nuclear accident in 1979. In March, Amazon said it would buy a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania.Â
“Google’s partnership with Kairos Power signals another major step in tech’s embrace of nuclear energy,” said Somnath Kansabanik from research firm Rystad Energy.
