On Monday (October 14th), Google signed an agreement with nuclear energy startup Kairos Power to build seven small modular nuclear reactors to power Google's data centers.
The agreement promises that as energy demand for data centers and artificial intelligence surges, Google will plan to purchase six to seven small modular reactors (SMRs) of electricity from Kairos, which will provide approximately 500 megawatts of carbon free electricity to Google.
According to the agreement, the first small modular reactor will be put into use before 2030 and more deployments will be made before 2035. The two companies have not disclosed the financial details of the agreement or the location of the plant, and it is currently unclear whether these reactors will be directly connected to Google's site or integrated into the power grid.
Michael Terrell, Senior Director of Energy and Climate at Google, stated that through the agreement with Kairos, Google will obtain carbon free electricity, which is a milestone in Google's 15 year clean energy journey.
Terrell added, 'We believe that nuclear energy plays a crucial role in supporting our clean growth and helping to achieve advancements in artificial intelligence.'.
Through this transaction, Google has joined the ranks of Microsoft and Amazon, large tech companies that are seeking to use nuclear energy to meet their high demand for electricity.
In September of this year, Microsoft announced an agreement with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island reactor, which was shut down in 2019, and purchase electricity for the next 20 years from it; Earlier this year, Amazon also announced plans to build a massive data center and connect it directly to another nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
Challenges ahead
Currently, most nuclear power plants are large-scale facilities capable of providing 1000 megawatts or more of electricity, but require years of planning and nearly a decade of construction.
Kairos is one of the new nuclear energy startups that is building so-called small modular reactors in an attempt to reduce costs and accelerate the construction of nuclear power plants.
This type of reactor provides a new way to accelerate nuclear deployment due to its simplified design and strong inherent safety. Smaller size and modular design can also shorten construction time, allow deployment in more locations, and make final project delivery more predictable.
According to data from the US Department of Energy (DOE), nuclear power has the greatest economic impact among all sources of electricity generation and creates high paying long-term employment opportunities. The agency estimates that by 2050, the advanced nuclear power installed capacity in the United States will reach 200 gigawatt hours and will require an additional 375000 workers.
Kairos is also attempting to further advance the SMR technology by using molten salts of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride instead of water to cool the reactor. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the startup's plan to build a 35 megawatt demonstration reactor.
Despite gaining recognition from regulatory agencies, Kairos still faces multiple challenges. Firstly, there are currently no commercially available small modular reactors in use, which means that their economic benefits have not been proven to a large extent; Secondly, Kairos' molten salt cooling design has overturned decades of industry experience in water-cooled reactors.
However, Kairos' biggest challenge may not be technical at all, but rather the level of acceptance among the public. According to the Pew Research Center, 56% of Americans support nuclear energy, while 44% still oppose it. Most importantly, once the location of the small reactor (closer to the city center) is taken into account, the number of opponents may continue to rise.
Compared to nuclear energy, more people support wind and solar energy, which are currently available at a much lower cost than building new nuclear power plants.