Will Nuclear Energy Power AI Data Centers? Timeline of Developments, Proponents and Safety Discussions Sustainable Tech Partner

Nuclear energy is emerging as a possible solution to power AI data centers without generating carbon emissions. But business strategies, government policies and consumer opinions about safety vary from country to country.

The central issue facing data center providers and cloud-scale companies is easily explained:

Amid that backdrop, numerous parties — including venture capitalists, private equity firms, energy companies and technology businesses — are pushing nuclear energy and SMRs (small modular reactors) as a power source for data centers. But some critics express SMR and nuclear energy safety concerns, while other critics worry about storing nuclear waste.

Check this blog regularly for status updates tracking the latest nuclear reactor and power projects in the data center and IT services sector.

Multiple updates…

• Financial Services: Fourteen of the world’s biggest banks and financial institutions will pledge increased support for nuclear energy in a bid to unlock financing for the nuclear power sector, the Financial Times reported and a SeekingAlpha recapped.
• Partnership: Caddis Cloud Solutions and IP3 Corporation are partnering to advance small modular reactors (SMRs) to power data centers.
• Microsoft and Three Mile Island Partnership: Constellation Energy and Microsoft have signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in what would be the first-ever restart of its kind, Reuters reported. Microsoft, rivals and tech investors are exploring various nuclear energy options to power AI data centers.
• Amazon Seeks to Hire Nuclear Power Help: Amazon Web Services is seeking to hire a principal nuclear engineer who can has experience in “end-to-end nuclear power project development process from design, regulatory licensing, site permitting, constructability and operations,” the company said. The Amazon Web Services hire will be expected to “influence key external partners such as OEMs and developers to design operationally efficient and safe modular nuclear plants” that can deliver “carbon free capacity” to AWS data centers.
• Italy Reconsiders Nuclear Power: Italy plans to draft, by early 2025, rules to allow the use of new nuclear power technologies, Reuters reported, signaling a potential reversal of the country’s current ban on nuclear power production.
• Startup Funding: Micro-nuclear power plant developer Last Energy has raised $40 million in Series B funding. Of Last Energy’s initial customer agreements, 39 of the 80 units will be built to serve data center developers. Gigafund led the round, with participation from Autodesk Foundation and various family offices. 
• United States Nuclear Power Strategy: With electricity demand surging across the United States, nuclear power advocates want to restart some of the 13 reactors that closed in the last decade, saying their carbon-free energy is needed more than ever, Bloomberg reports. But only a handful of retired nuclear plants have a realistic chance of being revived, analysts say — perhaps as few as three, the report asserts.

Multiple updates…

• Startup Funding: Aalo Atomics has raised $27 million in Series A funding. Key investors include 50Y, Valor Equity Partners, Harpoon Ventures, Crosscut, SNR, Alumni Ventures, Preston Werner, Earth Venture, Garage Capital, Wayfinder, Jeff Dean, Nucleation Capital, and more. Special thanks to Earth Venture Capital for the heads up.
• M&A – Nuclear Energy Consulting: Private equity firm Pelican Energy Partners has acquired GSE Solutions, a provider of nuclear engineering solutions that “support the future of clean-energy production and decarbonization initiatives of the power industry.”
• New Power Plants for Data Centers?: The immense energy demands of data centers will likely require building natural gas-burning power plants, solar and wind farms and perhaps small nuclear reactors, said new American Electric Power CEO Bill Fehrman, according to Bloomberg.

Multiple updates…

Giorgia Meloni, prime minister, Italy

• M&A – Nuclear Waste Management: Perma-Fix Environmental Services has acquired the Environmental Waste Operations Center (EWOC) near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Australia Nuclear Debate: A plan by Australia’s federal opposition that would slow the roll-out of renewable power and build a network of nuclear reactors has set the scene for a divisive confrontation on climate policy ahead of an election expected in 2024, Reuters reported.
• Italy – Nuclear Energy Policy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government is planning to reintroduce nuclear energy 35 years after Italy shut down its last atomic plant, in a bid to lower the country’s carbon emissions, News.Az reports citing the Financial Times.
• United States – Virginia Nuclear Power: Dominion Energy Virginia has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to determine the feasibility of small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology. Proponents believe SMR technology can deliver nuclear power in a cost-effective, carbon-free way — though critics continue to worry about the long-term storage and disposal of nuclear waste.

Multiple updates…

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

• China vs. United States – Nuclear Power: The U.S. may be 15 years behind China on developing high-tech nuclear power, Reuters reported, as Beijing’s state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute.
• United States – Nuclear Energy Power Plants: The United States could revive some of its recently retired nuclear power plants to help meet rising demand for zero-emissions electricity, or add reactors to existing sites, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters.
• AI Data Centers Require U.S. Nuclear Power: Surging electricity demand for artificial intelligence and data centers means next-generation nuclear power “can’t fail,” according to a top U.S. Energy Department official, Bloomberg reported.
• South Korea Energy Strategy: South Korea should target major additions of renewables and nuclear power by the late 2030s to curb emissions and meet surging demand from data centers to semiconductor manufacturing, according to a government proposal, as reported by Bloomberg.

Multiple updates…

• Japan Nuclear Energy Policy: Japan had big plans for nuclear power before the 2011 tsunami, Bloomberg reported. Now a debate over restarting Japan’s biggest nuclear facility will test if it can turn away from costly imported fuels, the report said.
• Nuclear Power Expansion?: Constellation Energy Corp., the biggest nuclear power operator in the United States, is exploring the possibility of constructing new nuclear capacity at its existing reactor sites to meet the growing demand from data center customers, Carbon Credits reported.

Multiple updates…

• United States Nuclear Power Reactors: A month after the U.S. offered $1.5 billion to restart one shuttered nuclear power plant, there’s a growing sense among officials in the industry and government that it may not be the last, Bloomberg reported.
• Partnership: Terrestrial Energy and Schneider Electric have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop technologies for nuclear-powered data centers and industrial facilities. The nuclear technology involves small, modular, repeatable designs.
• OpenAI Founder Funds Energy Startup: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Katherine Boyle, and multiple venture capital firms are funding Exowatt, a renewable energy startup that wants to offer cost-effective power for generative AI applications and data centers.
• M&A – Consulting: Private equity firm Bernhard Capital Partners has acquired Strategic Management Solutions, LLC (SMSI), a provider of expert management and technical consulting services for federal and large industrial clients focused on nuclear programs and projects, the buyer said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bernhard Capital previously acquired Boston Government Services (BGS) and Sterling Engineering & Consulting Group (SE&C) as part of a push to build a Department of Energy services platform.
• Europe – Nuclear Under Pressure: Surging renewables and a slump in power prices are undermining operations of nuclear power plants — which are still the cornerstone of electricity grids in several parts of the continent, Bloomberg reported.
• Japan Energy Policy: Japan will need new nuclear power plants to meet its 2050 net zero goal, according to nation’s main electricity utilities, Bloomberg reported.

Multiple updates…

Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI

• Startup Talent: Oklo, the nuclear microreactor power startup backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, is seeking a director of data center solutions.
• Global Nuclear Power: Thirty-four nations, including the United States, China, France, Britain and Saudi Arabia, committed “to work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy,” The Associated Press reported.
• Europe – Nuclear Power Limitations?: Leaders from pro-nuclear European countries and energy experts are set to call for a nuclear energy revival on March 21, 2024 at a summit in Brussels, seeking to rebuild the European industry after years of gradual decline, Reuters reported. However, Europe’s nuclear power revival plans are too little, too late, according to a Bloomberg report. Despite growing interest in nuclear power for data centers, the energy source will represent less than 1% of Europe’s power mix by 2050, the report predicted.
• Partnership – Technology And Energy Transition: Google, Microsoft and Nucor are partnering to “develop new business models and aggregate their demand for advanced clean electricity technologies.” Key focus areas include advanced nuclear, next-generation geothermal, clean hydrogen, long-duration energy storage (LDES) and others, the companies said. Nucor is a steelmaker and positions itself as the largest recycler in America.
• France vs. European Union: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire criticized the European Commission’s approach toward climate targets, saying the European Union’s executive arm focuses too much on renewable energy while overlooking other technologies like nuclear power in the fight against global warming, Bloomberg reported.
• AWS M&A: AWS acquired a nuclear powered, carbon-free data center campus from Talen Energy Corp. for $650 million. But the agreement to directly sell power to the AWS data center from the nuclear plant already faces opposition from utilities American Electric Power and Exelon, who have filed complaints at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), CNBC noted.

Multiple updates…

• United States – Virginia Data Centers: Green Energy Partners plans to build a nuclear-powered data center campus in Surry, Virginia, in a major push for sustainable energy solutions, BNN Breaking reported. The project, valued at $6.45 billion, is expected to create up to 3,000 jobs and house 19 data centers powered by small modular nuclear reactors.
• United States – Nuclear Project Delayed: Southern Co. expects its long-delayed Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia to be pushed back again, Bloomberg reported. The delay reinforces questions about the United States’ ability to harness nuclear power as part of a broader energy transition.

Multiple updates…

Erin Henderson, director of nuclear development acceleration, Microsoft.

• Microsoft Hires Nuclear Energy Talent: Microsoft has hired Erin Henderson as director of nuclear development acceleration. Also, the company hired Archana “Archie” Manoharan as its director of nuclear technologies. The hires involve Microsoft’s continued transition to sustainable energy.
• Startup Layoffs: NuScale Power layoffs involved roughly 28% of staff at the modular nuclear reactor company, NuScale disclosed. The staff cuts arrived at a key time for both NuScale and the broader energy market — where the United States is racing to compete against Russia and China on multiple nuclear and energy transition fronts.
• Utility Layoffs: Despite layoffs at Duke Energy, the utility is “investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.”
• South Africa Energy Infrastructure: South Africa’s updated energy blueprint envisions more than 100 gigawatts of new generation capacity being built by 2050, and proposes that a variety of technologies and fuels be considered to produce that power — including solar, wind, nuclear and coal, Bloomberg reported.
• United Kingdom – Nuclear Power Slump: Power output from the UK’s nuclear power plants slumped to the lowest in more than four decades in 2023, potentially increasing a reliance on fossil fuels that will make it more difficult to reach the nation’s net zero emissions target, Bloomberg reported.

Archana “Archie” Manoharan, director of nuclear technologies, Microsoft

Multiple updates…

• Spain Nuclear Power Phaseout: Spain plans to close the country’s nuclear plants by 2035 as it presented energy measures including extended deadlines for renewable projects and adjusted renewable auctions, Reuters reported.
• AI and Nuclear Power: Microsoft is experimenting with generative artificial intelligence to see if AI could help streamline the approval process for nuclear power to drive cloud services, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Bill Gates, co-founder, Microsoft

• November 2023 – Fusion Power Strategy: The U.S. at COP28 will lay out the first international strategy to commercialize nuclear fusion power, Reuters reported.
• November 2023 – Asset Lifecycle Management: McDermott has partnered with AVEVA and Aras to “develop its asset lifecycle management capability across the energy transition, oil and gas, and nuclear sectors,” the three companies said.
• September 2023 – Microsoft Seeks to Hire Nuclear Technology Experts: Microsoft wants to integrate advanced nuclear technology into powering its data centers, according to a job posting from the cloud services and software giant.
• July 2023 – Partnership: IP3 and Green Energy Partners together are building the Surry Green Energy Center and related green data center assets in Virginia. On its own, IP3 is striving to be the “lead U.S. integrator for the development and operations of peaceful and secure nuclear power in the global marketplace.”
• July 2023 – Microsoft Nuclear Energy Partnership: Constellation Energy has inked an agreement with Microsoft to “significantly reduce the carbon footprint of one of Microsoft’s data centers in Boydton, Virginia.” Under the agreement, the facility will receive up to 35% in environmental attributes from nuclear power, complementing Microsoft’s new wind and solar purchases, the companies said. The agreement puts Microsoft “very close to its goal of operating the data center on 100 percent carbon-free electricity around the clock,” the companies said.
• July 2023 – Ukraine Energy Strategy: Amid Russia’s continued attacks, Ukraine has been rearchitecting its energy grid to lean far more on renewable energy and nuclear energy, NREL reports.
• May 2023 – Higher Education: Purdue University is exploring whether small nuclear reactors can help the university to achieve zero carbon emissions. Purdue and Duke Energy released a preliminary feasibility report here.
• May 2023 – Bill Gates Funds Nuclear: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is betting on nuclear power to help the world to address its climate goals.
• April 2023 – European Union Lawsuit: Greenpeace said it’s suing the European Union’s executive over its decision to grant some gas and nuclear power stations a “fake” green label under EU sustainable finance rules, Bloomberg reported.
• March 2023 – France Nuclear Fuels: France is planning a renewed push for recognition of nuclear-derived fuels in European Union renewable energy targets, setting up a potential clash between countries seeking to approve the goals in March 2023, Reuters reported.
• March 2023 – UK Green Budget Concerns: Green campaigners say the UK’s new budget missed an opportunity to supercharge the country’s clean energy transition at a time when it desperately needs to decarbonize its electricity and heating infrastructure, Bloomberg reported. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced £20 billion ($24 billion) in funding for carbon capture and storage, as well as support for small modular nuclear reactors and corporate energy efficiency schemes. But the head of Britain’s treasury did not mention any new funding for renewable energy, despite hailing the country’s role as a world leader in offshore wind, Bloomberg said.

Note: Blog originally published September 23, 2024. We plan to make ongoing updates. If you spot nuclear power news related to data centers and IT services then please email me the details.

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