Tech giants are increasingly eyeing nuclear reactors to power their energy-hungry data centers. Amazon and Microsoft each inked major deals this year with nuclear power plants in the US. And both Microsoft and Google have shown interest in next-generation small modular reactors that are still in development.
New AI data centers need a lot of electricity, which has taken companies further away from their climate goals as their carbon emissions grow. Nuclear reactors could potentially solve both of those problems. As a result, Big Tech is breathing new life into America’s aging fleet of nuclear reactors while also throwing its weight behind emerging nuclear technologies that have yet to prove themselves.
“Certainly, the prospects for this industry are brighter today than they were five and 10 years ago,” says Mark Morey, senior adviser for electricity analysis at the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.
“Certainly, the prospects for this industry are brighter today”
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Much of America’s aging nuclear fleet came online in the 1970s and 1980s. But the industry has faced pushback following high-profile accidents like Three Mile Island and the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Nuclear power plants are also expensive to build and generally less flexible than gas plants that now make up the biggest chunk of the US electricity mix. Gas-fired power plants can more quickly ramp up and down with the ebb and flow of electricity demand.
Nuclear power plants typically provide steady “baseload” power. And that makes it an attractive power source for data centers. Unlike manufacturing or other industries that operate during daytime business hours, data centers run around the clock.
“When people are sleeping and offices are shut and we’re not using as much [electricity], what matches nuclear energy very nicely with data centers is that they pretty much need power 24/7,” Morey says.
That consistency also sets nuclear apart from wind and solar power that wane with the weather or time of day. Over the past five years or so, many tech companies have accelerated climate goals, pledging to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions.
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The added energy demand from new AI tools, however, has put those goals further out of reach in some cases. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all seen their greenhouse gas emissions climb in recent years. Getting electricity from nuclear reactors is one way companies can try to bring those carbon emissions down.
A feat that’s never been done before in the US
Microsoft signed an agreement to purchase power from shuttered Three Mile Island in September. “This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,” Microsoft VP of energy Bobby Hollis said in a press release at the time.
The plan is to revive the plant by 2028, a feat that’s never been done before in the US. The plant “was prematurely shuttered due to poor economics” in 2019, according to Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of the company, Constellation, that owns the plant. But the outlook for nuclear energy now is rosier than it has been for years as companies look for carbon pollution-free sources of electricity.
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In March, Amazon Web Services purchased a data center campus powered by the adjacent Susquehanna Nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. That $650 million deal secures electricity from the sixth largest nuclear facility in the US (out of 54 sites today).
Google is considering procuring nuclear energy for its data centers as part of its sustainability plans. “Obviously, the trajectory of AI investments has added to the scale of the task needed,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in an interview with Nikkei this week. “We are now looking at additional investments, be it solar, and evaluating technologies like small modular nuclear reactors, etc.”
He’s referring to next-generation reactors that are still in development and not expected to be ready to connect to the power grid until the 2030s at the earliest. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified a design for an advanced small modular reactor for the first time last year. These advanced reactors are roughly one-tenth to one-quarter the size of their older predecessors; their size and modular design are supposed to make them easier and cheaper to build. They might also be more flexible than larger nuclear plants when it comes to adjusting how much electricity they produce to match changes in demand.
Bill Gates, for one, is all in on nuclear energy. He’s the founder and chair of TerraPower, a company developing small modular reactors. Last year, Microsoft put out a job listing for a principal program manager to lead the company’s nuclear energy strategy that would include small modular reactors.
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Bill Gates, for one, is all in on nuclear energy
“I’m a big believer that nuclear energy can help us solve the climate problem, which is very, very important,” Gates said in an interview with The Verge last month.
This week, the Department of Energy released a new report projecting that US nuclear capacity could triple by 2050. After flatlining for years, electricity demand is expected to rise in the US thanks to EVs, new data centers, crypto mining, and manufacturing facilities. That growing demand is changing the outlook for nuclear energy, according to the report. Just a couple years ago, utilities were shutting down nuclear reactors. Now, they’re extending reactors’ lifetimes by up to 80 years and planning to restart ones that have shuttered, it says.
“It is reasonable to think that the tech companies could catalyze a new wave of investment in nuclear, in the US and around the world. There has been plenty of talk about the idea in the industry,” Ed Crooks, Wood Mackenzie senior vice president, thought leadership executive for the Americas wrote in a blog post this week.
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This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s all smooth sailing ahead for nuclear energy in the US. New reactor designs and plans to reopen shuttered nuclear power plants are still subject to regulatory approval. Initiatives to build both old-school power plants and new designs have faced soaring costs and delays. Amazon already faces opposition to its nuclear energy plans in Pennsylvania over concerns that it could wind up driving up electricity costs for other consumers. And the nuclear energy industry still faces pushback over the impact of uranium mining on nearby communities and concerns about where to store radioactive waste.
“It’s an interesting time, challenging in many ways,” Morey says. “We’ll see what happens.”
Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.
What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?
• F
• T
• B
• R
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Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #986) – the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today’s Quordle, game #986, are…
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The key to solving this Quordle, for me at least, was playing my unofficial fourth start word, BEFOG, which gave me the G I needed for FUDGE and BEGAT, and the B for that latter word too. But otherwise this was a straightforward day for the game. That said, both BEGAT and ROUSE are relatively uncommon words. BEGAT in particular is the kind of thing you might read in Shakespeare, but not exactly an everyday term – so well done if you solved it.
You can never have enough home security, and there are certainly no shortage of DIY surveillance devices. But if you’re the type of person who likes to keep tabs on package deliveries, front-door visitors, and whatever could be going on across the street, it sounds like you should be looking for security camera deals. Fortunately, we came across a great offer on one of these gadgets earlier today:
Right now, when you order the Blink Video Doorbell on Amazon, you’ll only spend $30. That’s half off its $60 retail price!
When it comes to DIY smart home devices, Blink often comes up as one of the best budget-friendly options for security cameras and video doorbells. The popular Blink Video Doorbell can be connected to existing doorbell wiring, or you can opt for battery power instead. Available in black or white, this Blink cam captures a 135-degree horizontal FOV and an 80-degree vertical view. The camera also shoots at up to 1080p and goes infrared for night vision.
The Blink Video Doorbell is able to track motion, pinging your go-to devices with an alert when a subject is detected. You’ll then be able to jump into the Blink app to communicate via two-way audio if you feel like talking to the person at the door. Motion-triggered recordings are available to view in the Blink app, which you’ll need to download anyway to set up the smart doorbell.
Blink is currently offering a 30-day free trial of its Blink Plus Plan, which lets you store up to 60 days’ worth of event recordings and even extends the warranty of the Blink Video Doorbell (after 30 days, you’ll start being billed $10 per month). A Blink subscription allows you to share clips with friends and family, too.
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We see plenty of security camera promos on a daily basis, but this exceptional Blink offer is likely brought to you by Amazon’s October Big Deal Day savings. Take $30 off the Blink Video Doorbell when you order on Amazon. You may also want to check out some of the best Ring deals we’ve been finding.
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Google has started rolling out the Gemini AI Q&A feature for the Gmail app on Android and iOS. Located in the search bar and as a dedicated panel, the Gmail Q&A feature accepts queries in the form of text prompts or suggestions.
Gmail Q&A is a “new way of searching inbox” on Android and iOS devices
Google announced the Gmail Q&A feature at this year’s Google I/O 2024. This feature essentially replicates the Gemini side panel that’s available on the desktop web on the Gmail app for Android devices.
The same Gmail Q&A is now reportedly rolling out to iOS devices. The Gemini interface for iPhones is similar to Android. However, there are some visual discrepancies such as the lack of Material 3 implementation in other areas of the app.
In case Gmail app users miss Google’s AI “sparkle”, the Gemini button also appears in the toolbar when users open an email. Positioned at the left of the archive feature, tapping the same slides up another panel. Here users can either pick one of the suggested prompts or type a new query.
Google restricts Q&A to a per-session history
Google has launched the Gmail Q&A feature but it is not available to all. Specifically speaking, Google is offering this feature to personal accounts subscribed to Google One AI Premium. Additionally, those with Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, or Education Premium subscriptions will also be able to benefit from the Gemini AI-driven feature.
Unlike, the desktop web view where Gemini appears in the side panel, Gmail users on Android will see the Gemini “How can I help you today?” panel taking over the bottom part of the app’s screen offering a few suggestions. Users can either enter text prompts in that panel or expand it to take up the entire screen.
The feature also users to search for specific details from an email or ask Gemini to display unread messages from a particular sender. Gemini can also help summarize emails about a topic from the inbox.
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Gmail Q&A has a per-session history. Additionally, users have easy access to the “Clear history” button located in the corner. This could help users limit Gemini’s access to emails in Gmail.
Once again, the European Union has issued a ruling preventing Meta from going too crazy with user information. The top court in the EU ruled that limits must be put in place for how long Meta and other social media networks can use people’s information for ad targeting strategies.
reported that the EU’s highest court sided with an earlier opinion published in April by a court adviser. The previous ruling also urged for limits on the amount of time companies could retain customers’ personal data for the purpose of targeting advertising.
The rulings referred its retention guidelines to the bloc’s established by the EU in 2018. Recital 65 of the GDPR establishes a person’s “right to be forgotten” and the right to rectification and erasure of personal data. Failure to comply with the GDPR could result in a 4 percent global annual turnover penalty, a number that could reach into the billions for a social media mega-corporation like Meta. Last year, Meta had to pay (or approximately €390 million) for illegally requiring users of its social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to accept personalized ads.
The EU and Meta along with other big tech companies like Apple and Google have tangled over the use of personal data in relation to the . Meta is currently awaiting a fine ruling for when it required users to pay to prohibit the company from collecting and sharing their personal data. Last year, the EU’s Court of Justice ruled that before delivering personal ads to users in the region.
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