'Nuclear can play...': Google to buy power for AI from small modular nuclear reactors

American technological giant Google announced on Monday (Oct 14) that it had signed the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs)to meet the electricity demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A report by the news agency Reuters early Tuesday said that Google's agreement with Kairos Power aimed to bring the latter's firstsmall modular reactor online by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035.

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Google said it had agreed to buy500 megawatts of power from six to seven reactors, which is smaller than the output of today's nuclear reactors.

'Nuclear can play an important role in...'

Speaking to Reuters, Google's Senior Director for Energy and Climate Michael Terell said, "We feel like nuclear can play an important role in helping to meet our demand ... cleanly in a way that's more around the clock."

Google and Kairos did not revealthe financial details of the agreement or where in the USthe plants would be built.

Technological firms have signedseveral recent agreements with nuclear power companies this year as AI boosted power demand for the first time in decades.

A long wait for Kairos?

Citing estimates from Goldman Sachs, Reuters reported on Tuesday thatUSdata centre power use wasexpected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and would require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity.

Kairos would need to get a full construction and design permit from the USNuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as well as permits from local agencies, a process that can take years.

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In 2023, the company got a construction permit from the NRC to build a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.

"The NRC is ready to efficiently and appropriately review applications for new reactors," an NRC spokesperson told the news agency.

(With inputs from agencies)