Another shuttered nuclear power plant is getting new life, thanks to Big Tech

Google announced plans to revive a nuclear energy plant that shut down in 2020, because it appears to safe sufficient electrical energy for its AI information facilities.

The corporate introduced a 25-year settlement with NextEra Vitality to finally buy electrical energy from the Duane Arnold Vitality Middle, a 615MW nuclear plant in Iowa, when it begins working once more. “We’re enabling the funding to restart the plant and overlaying prices for the manufacturing of vitality from Duane Arnold,” Google says in a blog post. The Central Iowa Energy Cooperative will buy remaining electrical energy from the plant that Google doesn’t use.

It’s the most recent transfer by Google and different tech corporations to revitalize nuclear vitality within the US, which has struggled to compete with falling prices for gasoline, photo voltaic, and wind energy over time. As energy grids scramble to keep up with growing electricity demand from AI, nuclear vitality has grow to be a extra enticing choice for producing carbon-free vitality around-the-clock for information facilities.

Duane Arnold first began producing energy in 1975, and is slated to start out operating once more in 2029. However getting it operational can be no small process; the US has by no means restarted a mothballed nuclear plant, Reuters reports. Microsoft announced plans final 12 months to assist revive a shuttered reactor at Three Mile Island, which is meant to sputter again to life in 2028.

Google says that turning an outdated energy plant again on is “the quickest path to unlock large-scale nuclear energy to satisfy AI progress within the near-term.” The corporate can be working with NextEra and Kairos Power to develop next-generation nuclear reactors, however these superior designs nonetheless face prolonged certification and permitting processes.