To fuel the insatiable energy appetite of artificial intelligence, tech companies are going big on small nuclear reactors.
Last week, both Google and Amazon announced agreements with companies that are developing small modular reactors. These reactors would produce less power than current reactors, and many designs include different types of fuel or coolants, plus additional safety features.
The announcements have amplified the buzz around small modular reactors, which have attracted increasing attention in recent years, given the need for clean energy that won’t contribute to climate change. A variety of companies have sprung up to meet the need, producing a cornucopia of proposed designs for small modular reactors.
“If you combine the need for resilient power with the need for clean power and the emerging availability of these designs, you get a great upswing in interest,” says nuclear engineer Kathryn Huff of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has been supporting the development of small modular reactors, further feeding interest.
So what’s on the horizon for this potential new nuclear generation? We break down the big questions about how and why nuclear reactors are going small.
What are small modular reactors?
Commercial reactors in the United States typically produce around a billion watts of electrical power. Small modular reactors would produce less than a third of that.
Traditional nuclear plants require massive investment up front, a hurdle that has stalled the building of new reactors in the United States for decades. The first newly constructed reactors built in the country in 30 years — two in Waynesboro, Ga., that switched on in 2023 and 2024 — cost around $30 billion. The construction was years behind schedule…
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