Over the past month, three Big Tech companies—Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Microsoft—announced plans to use nuclear energy to meet the increasing energy demands of their data centers, where their AI models are trained.
Amazon plans to invest in small nuclear reactors, including one set to be built near the existing North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia. Google has signed an agreement with Kairos Power, a nuclear technology company, to purchase energy from the small modular reactors it plans to develop. Microsoft, meanwhile, will source nuclear energy from the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, which was shut down in 2019 and will be reactivated for this purpose.
Nuclear energy can be produced continuously, 24/7 (unlike solar power, for example), and is considered “clean” since it does not emit carbon dioxide during production
The three companies have already invested in renewable energy sources, such as wind power, but are turning to nuclear energy because it is both “clean”—meaning it doesn’t emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases during production—and reliable, as its generation is unaffected by external factors like sunlight.
Global data center energy consumption is projected to surpass 1,000 terawatt-hours per year by 2026, up from 460 terawatt-hours in 2022. To illustrate, 1 terawatt-hour is enough to power approximately 70,000 homes annually.
What is fyi.news?
