timeline for 2030.
Google made an announcement on October 14th on their blog letting everyone know that Kairos Power will provide new nuclear clean energy. The startup, Kairos Power, agreed to build seven small reactors that will make up for the energy supply for Google’s data centers. The deal between the two companies also promises to add approximately 500 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at a time when the demand for data centers and AI is needed.
The power plants are planned to come online by the end of the decade as Google announced. “The initial phase of work is intended to bring Kairos Power’s first SMR online quickly and safely by 2030, followed by additional reactor deployments through 2035. Overall, this deal will enable up to 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids and help more communities benefit from clean and affordable nuclear power.” Google wrote on their website.
However, it is not yet known whether or not the power plants and their reactors will be directly linked to Google’s sites, or if the energy will be fed into Google’s grid. With this deal, Google joined Microsoft and Amazon in using nuclear energy in order to fulfill the need for electricity.
Last month, in September, Microsoft announced that they would use nuclear energy from Constellation Energy. In order to do so, Microsoft paid Constellation Energy to restart one of the records that shuttered in 2019 at Three Mile Island.
Even more so, earlier this year, Amazon said that it would start building a hyperscale data center that will allow it to directly connect to a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
Google also wrote on its blog that this deal is important because “The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth. This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”
In the case when the Nuclear Energy Company Kairos can fulfill its deadline for 2030, the startup would still remain locked in a race with other fusion startups. And, many of those fusion startups are looking forward to transforming nuclear power plants into commercial-scale energy plants before 2035.
Kairos is one of the companies that have started building small-modular reactors also known as SMR in order to provide lower costs in the process of creating nuclear plants as well as speeding up the process.
“Kairos Power’s technology uses a molten-salt cooling system, combined with a ceramic, pebble-type fuel, to efficiently transport heat to a steam turbine to generate power. This passively safe system allows the reactor to operate at low pressure, enabling a simpler more affordable nuclear reactor design.” wrote Google on their website.
Commun nuclear plants are formed from massive installations that supply 1000 megawatts or even more, however, the process of building the plant can take up to a decade and years to plan. The newest reactors in the US are Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia, coming several years too late and after $17 billion over the budget.
Kairos' main challenge remains the number of opposed American citizens against power plants, which might be rising. Recent research shows that Americans support more wind and solar power, technology that is less costly and available more easily than nuclear power plants.
“We’ll continue working to accelerate a diverse portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies and bring new 24/7 clean, affordable energy onto every grid where we operate.” ended Google in their post.
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