
Big Tech is making some serious moves into the nuclear energy world. It all started back in September when Microsoft announced a 20-year power deal with Constellation. This deal will actually bring Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 reactor back online. Then, just last week, Google jumped into the game, partnering with Kairos Power to buy energy from their next-gen nuclear reactors. These aren’t your average reactors – they’re fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature advanced small modular reactors (try saying that five times fast!).
Google’s aiming to have the first one up and running commercially by 2030, with a long-term goal of a whole fleet producing 500 megawatts of power by 2035. And the very next day? Amazon announced they’re investing in X-energy, a company that builds advanced, next-gen nuclear reactors. Amazon’s initial plan is to use X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced SMR for a project in Washington State.
But it’s not just the American tech giants getting in on the action. Over in Japan, the head of Ubitus KK, a company that provides cloud-based gaming services, has announced some interesting plans. They’re looking to build a brand-new data center and are specifically targeting locations near existing nuclear power plants to ensure they have the massive amount of power they need.