Google
plans
to
buy
electricity
from
next-generation
nuclear
reactors.
It
announced
the
deal
yesterday,
which
it
says
is
the
world’s
first
corporate
agreement
to
purchase
electricity
from
advanced
small
modular
reactors
(SMRs)
that
are
still
under
development.
Google
inked
the
deal
with
engineering
company
Kairos
Power,
which
plans
to
get
its
first
SMR
up
and
running
by
2030.
Google
agreed
to
purchase
electricity
from
“multiple”
reactors
that
would
be
built
through
2035.
Google
needs
a
lot
more
clean
energy
to
meet
its
climate
goals
while
pursuing
its
AI
ambitions.
New
nuclear
technologies
are
still
unproven
at
scale,
but
the
hope
is
that
they
can
provide
carbon
pollution-free
electricity
while
solving
some
of
the
problems
that
come
with
traditional
nuclear
power
plants.
“The
trajectory
of
AI
investments
has
added
to
the
scale
of
the
task
needed”
Back
in
2020,
Google
set
a
goal
of
running
on
carbon-free energy around
the
clock
by
2030. It
also
committed
to
slashing
its
planet-heating
pollution
in
half
by
2030
compared
to
a
2019
baseline.
And
yet,
since
2019,
its
total
greenhouse
gas
emissions
have
grown
by
48
percent,
according
to
its
latest environmental
report.
“Obviously,
the
trajectory
of
AI
investments
has
added
to
the
scale
of
the
task
needed,”
CEO
Sundar
Pichai
said
in
an interview
with Nikkei earlier
this
month.
“We
are
now
looking
at
additional
investments,
be
it
solar,
and
evaluating
technologies
like
small
modular
nuclear
reactors,
etc.”
Other
big
tech
companies
with
climate
goals
are
trying
to
solve
the
same
problem
with
nuclear
energy.
In
March,
Amazon
Web
Services
announced
its
purchase
of
a
data
center
campus
powered
by
a
nuclear
power
plant
in
Pennsylvania.
Microsoft
signed
an agreement in
September
to
help
revive
and purchase
power
from
the
shuttered
Three
Mile
Island
plant.
What
sets
Google
apart
with
this
deal
is
that
it’s
turning
to
next-generation
reactors
rather
than
traditional
nuclear
power
plants.
SMRs
are
roughly
one-tenth
to
one-quarter the
size
in
comparison.
Their
size
and
modular
design
are
supposed
to
make
them
cheaper
and
easier
to
build
and
site
than
their
larger
predecessors.
And
unlike
solar
and
wind energy,
which
fluctuate
with
the
weather
and
time
of
day,
nuclear
power
plants
can
generate
electricity
around
the
clock. Even
with
new
reactor
designs,
however,
there
are
still
environmental
and
health
concerns
when
it
comes
to
mining
and
enriching
uranium
for
reactors
and
storing
radioactive
waste.
The
US
Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission certified
a
design for
a
small
modular
reactor
for
the
first
time last
year. Experts
tell
The
Verge
they
expect
the
first
SMRs
to
connect
to
US
power
grids
in
the
early
2030s
at
the
earliest,
and
big
tech’s
interest
in
nuclear
energy
seems
to
be
giving
the
industry
a
boost.
Google
says
its
deal
with
Kairos
Power
would
eventually
help
bring
up
to
500MW
of
carbon-free
energy
to
power
grids
in
the
US.
Kairos
broke
ground
on
its
first
demonstration
reactor
in
Tennessee
in
July.
“Having
an
agreement
for
multiple
deployments
is
important
to
accelerate
the
commercialization
of
advanced
nuclear
energy
by
demonstrating
the
technical
and
market
viability,”
Jeff
Olson,
Kairos
Power
vice
president
of
business
development
and
finance,
said
in
a
press
release.
(Originally posted by Justine Calma)
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