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Google partners with TVA, Kairos Power for nuclear project

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First U.S. utility power purchase agreement for generation

IV

nuclear

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Project supports U.S. AI dominance and energy leadership,

says

Energy Secretary

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google, with

Kairos Power, has selected Tennessee as the site of an advanced

nuclear power plant that is expected to supply electricity to

the Big Tech company's data centers in the U.S. southeast

starting in 2030, the companies said on Monday.

WHY IT MATTERS

Big Tech is requiring massive amounts of electricity to

scale up technologies like generative artificial intelligence in

energy-intensive data centers. Those record energy needs are

driving U.S. power consumption to new highs and propelling the

development of fresh power sources like next-generation nuclear

energy.

The Tennessee reactor is the first to be deployed as part of

Google's corporate agreement, announced last year, to buy

nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors.

The deal would support 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear

capacity, which is enough to power about 350,000 homes, to be

developed by California-based nuclear company Kairos.

The 50-gigawatt small modular nuclear power plant will be

built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a long-term power purchase

agreement with utility Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVC ), to

deliver electricity to Google data centers locally and in the

state of Alabama.

KEY QUOTE

"This collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak

Ridge community will accelerate the deployment of innovative

nuclear technologies and help support the needs of our growing

digital economy while also bringing firm carbon-free energy to

the electricity system," said Google's Amanda Peterson Corio.

The project marks the first time a U.S. utility has signed a

power purchase agreement for so-called generation IV nuclear

power, which is generally seen as the most sustainable and safe

form of nuclear power technologies in development, the companies

said.

ENERGY SECRETARY WEIGHS IN

"The deployment of advanced nuclear reactors is essential to

U.S. AI dominance and energy leadership," U.S. Energy Secretary

Chris Wright said in a statement announcing the site selection.

"The Department of Energy has assisted Kairos Power with

overcoming technical, operational, and regulatory challenges as

a participant in the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, and

DOE will continue to help accelerate the next American nuclear

renaissance."

Currently, there are no commercially available advanced

nuclear power plants in the U.S.