Google has announced a significant partnership with nuclear technology firm Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to power its burgeoning data centers with Generation IV nuclear energy. The agreement, centered on Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, marks the first instance of a U.S. utility signing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for electricity from an advanced Generation IV reactor. This collaboration underscores a growing interest among major tech companies and utilities in leveraging advanced nuclear power to meet increasing electricity demands, particularly those driven by artificial intelligence and cloud services, while maintaining clean energy goals.
Powering the Digital Future with Advanced Nuclear
The partnership aims to integrate 50 megawatts (MW) of nuclear energy onto the TVA grid by 2030, with Google procuring the clean energy attributes for its data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama. This initiative builds on a prior collaboration between Google and Kairos Power from last October, which sought to bring up to 500 MW of advanced nuclear capacity online by 2035 to support Google’s expanding energy needs. The deal reflects a strategic pivot for Google, which, despite being a leading corporate buyer of renewable energy since 2017, faces the challenge of powering its energy-intensive data centers — which can consume 10 to 50 times more energy per square foot than a typical office building — with round-the-clock carbon-free sources.
Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Global Head of Data Center Energy, emphasized that this collaboration will “accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies” and provide “firm carbon-free energy to the electricity system.”
The Role of Data Centers in Energy Demand
Data centers, essential for supporting AI development, cloud services, and other digital operations, are a major factor in the surge in electricity demand. According to a study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030, more than doubling current usage. Google’s own emissions rose by 13% in 2023 over the previous year, and 48% compared to its 2019 baseline, partly due to the escalating power requirements of its AI and cloud ambitions. This has prompted Google to explore diverse energy solutions, including co-locating new data centers with renewable energy sources and investing in battery-powered microgrids.
Understanding Generation IV Nuclear Technology
The Hermes 2 reactor, central to this deal, is a Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear reactor and a Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Gen IV reactors represent the “next evolution in nuclear power technology,” designed to offer enhanced sustainability, safety, efficiency, and economic competitiveness compared to previous generations.
Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 Reactor
Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 is a molten salt-cooled reactor. Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) are one of the six main designs identified by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) as promising future nuclear energy systems. Key advantages of MSRs include high fuel efficiency, reduced nuclear waste, and the ability to operate at lower pressures, which enhances safety. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit for the Hermes reactor in Oak Ridge in December 2023, making it the first non-light-water reactor to be permitted in the U.S. in over 50 years.
The Hermes 2 plant is scheduled to begin operations in 2030. Lessons learned from its development and operation are expected to help reduce the cost of future reactors, improving the economics of clean, firm power generation.
Broader Gen IV Landscape and Benefits
Generation IV reactors aim to:
- Minimize Waste: Through closed fuel cycles, many Gen IV designs can use spent fuel from existing reactors, reducing the need for new uranium mining and significantly decreasing the volume and radioactivity of nuclear waste, with some remaining radioactive for centuries instead of millennia.
- Enhance Safety: They incorporate advanced safety features, including passive cooling systems that can operate without human intervention, rendering severe accidents “physically impossible” in theory.
- Improve Economics: Enhanced efficiency and modular construction techniques, particularly for SMRs, aim to lower construction and operating costs, making nuclear power more competitive.
- Increase Versatility: High-temperature Gen IV systems can support various industrial applications, such as process heat for hydrogen production and water desalination, in addition to electricity generation.
- Reduce Proliferation Risk: Designs can be configured to make nuclear material less suitable for weapons use or diversion.
Beyond Kairos Power, other companies like TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, are also developing Gen IV reactor designs such as the Natrium reactor. The Natrium reactor is a sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage system, designed to integrate seamlessly with variable renewable resources like wind and solar. X-energy, another developer, focuses on the Xe-100, a high-temperature gas-cooled SMR that uses TRISO fuel, known for its robust safety features and high efficiency.
Challenges and the Path Forward
Despite the promising advancements, bringing Gen IV reactors to widespread commercial readiness faces several challenges. These include significant investment in research and development, complex and time-consuming regulatory hurdles for novel designs, and addressing public perception concerns about nuclear safety and waste management. Material challenges are also notable, as Gen IV reactors operate under more extreme conditions, requiring materials that can withstand higher temperatures, neutron fluxes, and corrosive coolants.
However, the collaboration between Google, Kairos Power, and TVA signifies a crucial step in overcoming these hurdles, demonstrating a new model where energy customers, utilities, and technology developers unite to advance and deploy innovative clean energy solutions. This landmark deal could serve as a blueprint for expanding nuclear energy to meet future global energy needs and accelerate the transition to a carbon-free grid.
