By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google said on Monday it signed the world’s first corporate agreement to buy power from several small modular reactors to meet electricity demand for artificial intelligence.
The technology company’s agreement with Kairos Power aims to commission Kairos’ first small modular reactor by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035.
The companies did not disclose financial details of the deal or where the plants would be built in the United States. Google said it agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is less than the output of current nuclear reactors.
“We believe nuclear can play an important role in helping meet our demand … in a clean, 24-hour way,” said Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director of energy and climate. during a phone call.
Tech companies have recently signed several deals with nuclear power companies this year, as artificial intelligence increases energy demand for the first time in decades.
In March, Amazon.com purchased a nuclear-powered data center from Talen Energy. Last month, Microsoft and Constellation Energy signed an energy deal to help resurrect a unit at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of America’s worst nuclear accident in 1979.
Power consumption in U.S. data centers is expected to triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generating capacity, according to estimates from Goldman Sachs, which assumed natural gas, wind and solar power would make up the shortfall.
Kairos will need to obtain a full construction and design permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as permits from local agencies, a process that can take years.
Kairos obtained a construction permit from the NRC late last year to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.
“The NRC stands ready to efficiently and appropriately review applications for new reactors,” said Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesperson.
Small modular reactors are intended to be smaller than current reactors, with components built in factories rather than on site, to reduce construction costs.
Critics say SMRs will be expensive because they may not achieve the economies of scale of larger factories. In addition, they will likely produce long-lived nuclear waste for which the country does not yet have final storage.
Google said that by engaging in a backlog framework with Kairos, instead of buying one reactor at a time, it is sending a demand signal to the market and making a long-term investment to accelerate the development of SMR.
“We are confident that this new approach will improve the chances that our projects will be delivered on time and on schedule,” said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, editing by Bill Berkrot and David Gregorio)
