Amazon is partnering with Energy Northwest to run the clock on carbon-free energy: A technical and market viability roadmap for next-generation nuclear power plants

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 goal of running around the clock on carbon-free energy was set back in 2020. It also committed to slashing its planet-heating pollution in half by 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline. Its total greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 48 percent according to its most recent environmental report.

The scale of the task required has been amplified by the trajectory of theAI investments, according to the CEO. “We are now looking at additional investments, be it solar, and evaluating technologies like small modular nuclear reactors, etc.”

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified a design for a small modular reactor last year. The first SMs to connect to US power grids is expected to happen in the early 2030’s, according to experts, and big tech’s interest in nuclear energy is giving the industry a boost.

“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.

Amazon signed an agreement with Energy Northwest, a consortium of public utilities in Washington state, to “enable the development” of four SMRs by the early 2030s. Energy Northwest says Amazon has agreed to fund part of a feasibility study near a nuclear energy facility in Washington. The e-commerce giant would then be able to purchase electricity from the first four modules built with a combined capacity of 320 megawatts. The deal includes “the option to further build out the site” to 12 units generating up to 960MW, which Amazon says would be enough electricity to power 770,000 homes in the US. Additional electricity from the expanded site would be available to Amazon as well as other businesses and homes in the area.

In Virginia, the utility company had a deal with Amazon to explore the possibility of having an SMR project near its North Anna nuclear power station. Virginia is a hub for energy-hungry hyperscale data centers, and Dominion expects electricity demand in the state to double over the next 15 years. 300MW of power is possible if the S MR project comes to fruition.

Nuclear reactors are also an appealing option for data centers that run around the clock because, unlike solar and wind farms, they can generate electricity regardless of the weather or time of day. SMRs are also supposed to be faster to build and easier to site than larger traditional nuclear power plants.

Nuclear energy is still facing opposition because of concerns about the environmental and health risks when it comes to storing and mining radioactive waste.

“It’s time for Big Tech to recommit to solutions that work and pose less risk to our environment and health, including making data centers as energy efficient as possible and committing them to be powered by new renewable energy sources,” Johanna Neumann, a senior director at the Environment America Research & Policy Center, said in a statement released after Google’s SMR announcement this week.