Google will buy nuclear power from US start-up Kairos Power, produced by next-generation small modular reactors (SMRs), the US technology giant announced on Monday.
Under the terms of the deal, Kairos' first SMR plant will be operational by 2030, with production ramping up by 2035 to help meet the huge electricity demand of Alphabet, Google's parent company.
Google declined to discuss the value of the contract.
The emergence of remote computing (cloud computing) has led to an increase in the energy consumption of major players in the sector, such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon, due to the use of server storage centres (data centres).
The importance of these centres has increased with the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI), which requires huge amounts of data and semiconductors.
To ensure they have enough power, leading cloud computing companies are striking deals with renewable energy providers, particularly nuclear power.
The second reactor at Three Mile Island was shut down in 1979, the year of the deadliest civil nuclear accident in the US.
SMRs, like the Kairos FHR, are next-generation reactors that are not yet operational in the United States.
While the cost of developing prototypes is high, they should be much cheaper in the long run than conventional nuclear power plants because they can be produced in series.
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