Technology AI, Science and New Things
Google has become the latest tech giant to strike a deal to buy nuclear power, as demand intensifies for low-carbon electricity sources that can meet the growing appetite of AI. Google has agreed to buy power from seven small modular reactors built by Kairos, a startup that uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant instead of water. Microsoft and Amazon, meanwhile, are reviving existing large reactors, including one at the famous Three Mile Island site. Why nuclear? Round-the-clock power is part of the appeal. So is scale. When aiming to build campuses that need a gigawatt of power, it makes sense to buy one site rather than millions of solar panels. But even with Big Tech’s push into nuclear, emissions goals will be tricky to achieve. These companies are already buying vast amounts of renewable energy certificates to meet clean energy quotas. Some call it “creative accounting”.
