Google to Power Data Centres with Small Modular Nuclear Reactor in Tennessee
- tech360.tv
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Google and nuclear technology company Kairos Power have selected Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as the site for a new small modular nuclear reactor, set to begin supplying electricity to Google’s data centres in the southeastern United States by 2030.
The project marks the first deployment under Google’s corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors.
The Oak Ridge facility will be developed under a long-term power purchase agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority. It will deliver electricity to Google’s data centres in Tennessee and Alabama.
The 50-gigawatt plant will support 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear capacity, enough to power approximately 350,000 homes.
The initiative is part of Google’s strategy to meet the growing energy demands of technologies like generative artificial intelligence, which require significant electricity to operate data centres.
Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data centre energy, said the collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak Ridge community will help accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies and provide firm carbon-free energy to the grid.
This is the first time a U.S. utility has signed a power purchase agreement for generation IV nuclear power, which is considered the most sustainable and safe form of nuclear technology currently in development.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors is essential to maintaining U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence and energy.
The Department of Energy has supported Kairos Power through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and will continue to assist in advancing nuclear innovation.
There are currently no commercially available advanced nuclear power plants operating in the United States.
Google and Kairos Power to build small modular nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Plant to supply electricity to Google data centres in Tennessee and Alabama by 2030
Project supports 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear capacity
Source: REUTERS