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The United States is betting on nuclear plants to meet the energy demands of AI data centers. Sustainable and efficient solution!
It appears that the administration led by Joe Biden is in a hurry. According to Axios, the government decided to urgently talk to the technology companies involved in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry due to the enormous electrical consumption required by their data centers. Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy, confirmed that the growing energy demand of these facilities is a problem that needs to be addressed.
“Artificial intelligence is not in itself a problem, in that it can be used to solve the challenge we are discussing,” Granholm pointed out. The US Department of Energy is seriously considering the possibility that companies with large data centers dedicated to training AI models could locate small nuclear power plants nearby to meet their energy needs.
The Potential Unlocking of SMR Reactors in the USA
In 2023, 18,6% of electricity generated in the US came from nuclear plants spread across the country, according to data from the EIA (US Energy Information Administration). If the Department of Energy considers the nuclear option to be the ideal solution to meet the electrical needs of large data centers for AI, the total contribution of this form of energy to the mix should be much greater. And this plan, as is logical, requires large investments.
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This strategy would also reinforce the U.S. commitment to energy sources that do not emit greenhouse gases. What is not yet clear is what investment technology companies will make in preparing new nuclear facilities and what subsidies the government will provide. At the moment, some of the big technology companies have already invested in nuclear energy, although not necessarily in fission. Microsoft, for example, has a deal with Helion Energy to source power from its nuclear fusion reactors in the future.
Nuclear Fusion: A Bet for the Future
Nuclear fusion is interesting as a future bet, but it is not a viable solution in the short or medium term, as commercial nuclear fusion reactors are still far away (according to EUROfusion, they will arrive in the 60s). The most solid option currently, both from a technical and economic point of view, are compact modular reactors, known as SMR (Small Modular Reactors) in English.
These fission reactors have been in development for just over two decades, and some of them are being designed according to the principles and requirements established for fourth-generation nuclear fission equipment. In fact, they are being designed so as not to suffer from the deficiencies introduced by previous generations. Above all, these fission machines must meet three requirements that make them much more attractive than the reactors used in operating nuclear power plants.
Fission Reactors Requirements
They need to be sustainable, demand lowest possible economic investment and, furthermore, their safety and reliability must be sufficiently high to minimize the likelihood of damage to the reactor core in the event of an accident. To fulfill the first condition, it is essential to extract as much energy as possible from the fuel and minimize radioactive waste.
In terms of cost, the implementation and maintenance of the nuclear plant must be comparable to the expenses required by other energy sources. And as for safety, it is essential that if an accident occurs, it is not necessary to take emergency measures beyond the facilities of the nuclear power plant itself. There is no doubt that this generation of reactors is much more attractive than the second-generation designs that have proliferated since the 70s.
Picture: Nuclear hole
Source: Axios
