As AI pushes up electricity demand, big tech is turning to nuclear energy for clean, reliable energy that keeps the digital world running 24\/7.<\/p>\n
Supercomputing and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly reshaping daily life\u2014from mapping efficient driving routes and coordinating real-time supply chains to powering e-commerce, streaming movies, and finishing schoolwork. But this digital surge is straining America\u2019s weakening power grid\u2014and threatening our air quality in the process. Data centers are only as clean as the electricity powering them, and carbon-free nuclear energy is uniquely equipped to deliver the dispatchable, around-the-clock power they demand.<\/p>\n
Demand is Growing<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, computing already consumes as much electricity in commercial buildings as refrigeration. By 2035, it will surpass lighting in all US offices, stores, warehouses, and hospitals. According to the\u00a0US Department of Energy<\/a>, by 2040, it will use more electricity than air conditioning, and by 2050, computing will be the single largest source of commercial power demand. Meeting that load will require massive amounts of new, reliable capacity.<\/p>\n For years, big tech companies signed contracts for wind and solar \u201cfarms\u201d\u2014but increasingly, they are seeking generation that is available when needed. They know that when intermittent renewables fall short, firm and dispatchable power\u2014like nuclear\u2014keeps the lights on. After all, no one should wait on favorable weather conditions to verify a credit card at a gas pump or complete a transaction at the supermarket.<\/p>\n Struggles of Natural Gas<\/strong><\/p>\n Natural gas is nuclear energy\u2019s chief competitor for supplying dispatchable power. But gas-fired electricity is often in short supply during winter peaks when home heating takes priority or pipelines freeze. Coal-fired plants require constant train deliveries\u2014and are vulnerable to weather, labor strikes, and accidents. These just-in-time, interruptible fuels carry another cost: air pollution.<\/p>\n One cautionary example:\u00a0xAI\u2019s Colossus data center<\/a>\u00a0in Memphis, powered by 35 gas turbines and potentially emitting over 2,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides annually, now faces a Clean Air Act lawsuit threat from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).<\/p>\n Nuclear Energy is the Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n Nuclear energy, by contrast, stores years\u2019 worth of fuel onsite and emits no carbon dioxide, smog, or other harmful pollutants. And thanks to its inherent energy density, nuclear energy does more with less land. To generate one million megawatt-hours\u2014enough to power over 100,000 homes for a year\u2014nuclear energy needs\u00a0just 103 acres<\/a>. Solar needs 3,200. Wind? Nearly 18,000 acres. That\u2019s the difference between a shopping mall, the Los Angeles International Airport, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, respectively.<\/p>\n As for the waste, all of the used fuel ever produced by US commercial reactors since the 1950s could fit on a\u00a0single football field<\/a>, stacked less than 10 yards high. Today, it is safely stored in steel-reinforced, concrete dry casks designed to withstand earthquakes, aircraft crashes, and extreme weather. Over the past 60 years, used nuclear fuel has been stored and transported across America without a single radiological release or harm to the public.<\/p>\n Big Tech Is Making the Shift\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n For companies and communities seeking abundant, reliable energy while minimizing their environmental footprint, nuclear energy is the practical choice. Energy buyers at\u00a0big tech firms<\/a>\u00a0have reached the same expert conclusion.<\/p>\n Microsoft, aiming to be carbon-negative by 2030, signed a contract to\u00a0restart a retired reactor<\/a>\u00a0in Pennsylvania. Amazon says it will reach net-zero by 2040 and has\u00a0cut a deal<\/a>\u00a0to buy more power from a different nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. And Facebook\u2019s parent company, Meta, has done something similar in Illinois,\u00a0guaranteeing the extended operation<\/a>\u00a0of a nuclear power plant there. All three moves help secure 24\/7 clean energy for massive data operations.<\/p>\n Big Tech is also betting on new reactors.\u00a0Google is backing<\/a>\u00a0advanced nuclear developer Kairos Power, while Oklo, another advanced reactor firm, has signed a deal with data center operator Switch for up to\u00a012,000 megawatts<\/a>.<\/p>\n A new generation of reactors is moving from the drawing board to commercial service, with construction underway in\u00a0Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming<\/a>. Some of these designs are compact enough to be factory-built and shipped in modular units\u2014making them faster to deploy and ideally sized for today\u2019s data centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Notably, on June 23, New York Governor\u00a0Kathy Hochul directed<\/a>\u00a0the state\u2019s Power Authority to develop at least 1,000 megawatts of new nuclear energy\u2014a decisive break from her predecessor\u2019s move to prematurely shutter the Indian Point nuclear power plant, once the state\u2019s largest source of carbon-free electricity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indian Point\u2019s closure<\/a>\u00a0led to\u00a0higher emissions<\/a>\u00a0and a greater risk of blackouts\u2014conditions that ultimately increase the likelihood of premature deaths. The only tangible upside? Sparing some fish eggs near the plant\u2019s cooling intakes. As the late\u00a0Norris McDonald<\/a>\u00a0of the pro-nuclear African American Environmentalist Association asked a decade ago, \u201cHow many African American children should suffer from asthma in order to marginally improve the level of fish egg mortality in the Hudson River?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What we build to power AI and our digital future matters. All energy sources have tradeoffs \u2014but for large industries that demand 24\/7 reliability and environmental responsibility, nuclear energy is the natural fit.<\/p>\n