Google turns to nuclear to power AI data centres

Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to generate the vast amounts of energy needed to power its artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.

The company says the agreement with Kairos Power will see it start using the first reactor this decade and bring more online by 2035.

The companies did not give any details about how much the deal is worth or where the plants will be built.

Technology firms are increasingly turning to nuclear sources of energy to supply the electricity used by the huge data centres that drive AI.

"The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies," said Michael Terrell, external, senior director for energy and climate at Google.

"This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone."

The deal with Google "is important to accelerate the commercialisation of advanced nuclear energy by demonstrating the technical and market viability of a solution critical to decarbonising power grids,” said Kairos executive Jeff Olson.

The plans still have to be approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as local agencies before they are allowed to proceed.

Last year, US regulators gave California-based Kairos Power the first permit in 50 years to build a new type of nuclear reactor.

In July, the company started construction of a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.

The startup specialises in the development of smaller reactors that use molten fluoride salt as a coolant instead of water, which is used by traditional nuclear plants.

Nuclear power, which is virtually carbon free and provides electricity 24 hours a day, has become increasingly attractive to the tech industry as it attempts to cut emissions even as it uses more energy.

Global energy consumption by data centres is expected to more than double by the end of the decade, according to Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs.

John Moore, Industry Editor for the TechTarget website told the BBC that AI data centres need large amounts of electricity to both power them and and keep equipment cool.

"These data centres are equipped with specialised hardware... that require lots of power, that generate lots of heat".

At a United Nations Climate Change Conference last year, the US joined a group of countries that want to triple their nuclear energy capacity by 2050 as part of efforts to move away from fossil fuels.

However, critics say nuclear power is not risk-free and produces long-lasting radioactive waste.

Last month, Microsoft reached a deal to restart operations at the Three Mile Island energy plant, the site of America's worst nuclear accident in 1979.

In March, Amazon said it would buy a nuclear-powered data centre in the state of Pennsylvania.

"Google’s partnership with Kairos Power signals another major step in tech’s embrace of nuclear energy," said Somnath Kansabanik from research firm Rystad Energy.