Google announces Tennessee as site for small modular nuclear reactor

Google, with Kairos Power, has selected Tennessee as the site of an advanced nuclear power plant that is expected to supply electricity to the Big Tech company’s data centres in the U.S. southeast starting in 2030, the companies said on Monday.

Big Tech is requiring massive amounts of electricity to scale up technologies like generative artificial intelligence in energy-intensive data centres. Those record energy needs are driving U.S. power consumption to new highs and propelling the development of fresh power sources like next-generation nuclear energy.

The Tennessee reactor is the first to be deployed as part of Google’s corporate agreement, announced last year, to buy nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors.

The deal would support 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear capacity, which is enough to power about 350,000 homes, to be developed by California-based nuclear company Kairos.

The 50-gigawatt small modular nuclear power plant will be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a long-term power purchase agreement with utility Tennessee Valley Authority, to deliver electricity to Google data centres locally and in the state of Alabama.

“This collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak Ridge community will accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies and help support the needs of our growing digital economy while also bringing firm carbon-free energy to the electricity system,” said Google’s Amanda Peterson Corio.

The project marks the first time a U.S. utility has signed a power purchase agreement for so-called generation IV nuclear power, which is generally seen as the most sustainable and safe form of nuclear power technologies in development, the companies said.

“The deployment of advanced nuclear reactors is essential to U.S. AI dominance and energy leadership,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement announcing the site selection. “The Department of Energy has assisted Kairos Power with overcoming technical, operational, and regulatory challenges as a participant in the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, and DOE will continue to help accelerate the next American nuclear renaissance.”

Currently, there are no commercially available advanced nuclear power plants in the U.S.