- Big Tech is turning to nuclear power as a potential AI energy solution, including small nuclear reactors.
- The debate over their viability makes the reactors controversial within the nuclear community.
- Some told BI the renewed attention related to AI could lead to new reactors and talent, while others remain skeptical.
Nuclear energy has historically suffered from a PR problem.
With Big Tech eyeing the industry as a possible solution to thevast amounts of energy required by AI, nuclear engineers and experts told Business Insider that they welcome the new attention as a positive shift.
However,there's debate about the viability of the new kid on the block, smallmodular reactors, or SMRs, which are receiving a large part of the hype and funding from venture capitalists. They lack an industry standard definition, but SMRs are generally categorized as smaller reactors that produce less power, 300 megawatts to a traditional reactor's 1,000
For some in the industry, the bigger picture is that, for the first timein a while, there's renewed interest in the US in building new reactors.
"Nuclear engineers have strong opinions about things, and somepeople are salty about whether SMRs are truly viable, or whether or not weshould just be building more light water reactors. I want us to build whatever," Christopher Perfetti, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Mexico, told BI. "I'm happy to build a light water reactor. I'm happy to build more SMRs."
"I think that justbuilding something will kind of get nuclear unstuck and hopefully get moremomentum," added Perfetti, who previously worked as a research anddevelopment scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Sofar, no SMRs have been built in the US, and only a small handful are operational or under construction worldwide.
"Thevendors are saying, these reactors are cheaper, these reactors are safer, butwe don't know, because they've never been built [in the US]," AllisonMacFarlane, former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told BI.
Engineers work in theEverest installation of the Poseidon department at CEA Cadarache. The Poseidonunit conducts experimental studies on Small Modular Reactors (SMR). NicolasTUCAT / AFP© Nicolas TUCAT / AFP
The kind of financial commitment needed to actualize a nuclearreactor — even a comparatively smaller one — is massive, MacFarlane said, withdelays and changes often leading to ballooning budgets.
The firstnuclear reactors to begin operating since 2016, Unit 3 and Unit 4 at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia, began producing power in 2023 and 2024, respectively. They ended up costing $36.8 billion — more than twice the projected cost, accordingto a report released by six consumer groups in Georgia.
"Sofull scale, and so each of those steps takes a lot of money," MacFarlanesaid. "It's going to be expensive to build a demonstration model, and thenyou've got to get your supply chains going. And for most of the SMRs, thesesupply chains don't exist."
Ultimately,MacFarlane remains a staunch supporter of traditional plants, which she saidare more feasible and more cost-efficient.
"Withlarge light water large reactors, they benefited from a continent of scale. Soit's a lot cheaper to build one large reactor than 10 small ones," shesaid. "That's why we have only large reactors. And so what these folks aretrying to do is model themselves on tech startups, but they're not. They'retrying to sell a nuclear reactor."
A 'new lease onlife' for a flagging industry
Whether or not SMRs are the future of nuclear energy doesn't matter,said Ricky Witt, who works in radiological safety at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plantin Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. What's important is that the new wave ofmoney and attention flowing into the industry is very real.
As of 2023, a total of 54 nuclear reactors were operating across the US, providing about 20% of the country's power from 1990 to 2021. Reactors were largely cheaper to build when they first began cropping up in the 1960s, but expenses have slowly increased due to a number of factors — plants have to be built on-site, there's no standard design in use across the industry, and regulations concerning security and staff add to operating costs.
Facing competition from natural gas plants, which are generally cheaper to build upfront, nuclear power experienced a slowdown from its heyday in 1990, which saw 112 plants operating in the US. Coupled with a series of disasters that stained the industry's image — among them, the incidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island — plants were steadily retiring.
"I think going forward, nuclear is going to expand in ourcountry," Witt said. "SMRs will be part of that. Whether it actuallyhappens or not, we don't know, but what I see is building some other nuclearpower plants and maybe opening some plants that we've shut down already, likewe're doing at Palisades."
"They were going towards completely shutting them down, and so nowthey have directions and Microsoft giving some money," he added."They've got a new lease on life."
The shuttered ThreeMile Island nuclear power plant is located near Middletown, Pennsylvania.Microsoft invested in bringing it back online to help power its AI efforts.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Renewed interest from the AI sector has given plants once slatedfor decommission a second chance. Last year, Microsoftinvested in restarting Three Mile Island in New York — in return, it'll receive nuclear energy from the plant for 20 years — and the Department of Energy backing efforts to reopen the Palisadesplant in Michigan.
"Thisagreement is a major milestone in Microsoft's efforts to help decarbonize thegrid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative," Microsoft'sVP of energy said at the time.
Amazon,for its part, has thrown its lot in with startupX-Energy, investing $500 million toward developing SMRs, while Meta began its hunt for nuclear partners in December of 2024.
"Weneed smart solutions that can help us meet growing energy demands while alsoaddressing climate change," said Amazon's vice president of global datacenters, Kevin Miller. "X-energy's technology will be integral in helpingachieve this, and is an important step in Amazon's work to achieve our ClimatePledge commitment to be net-zero by 2040."
TheDuane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, a nuclear plant that closed in 2020 aftermore than 45 years of operation, could also come back online, with NextEraEnergy expressing interest.
PitchBook,a data insights firm that closely tracks VC investments, wrote in a May 21report that energy investments were a "bright spot" in VC investmentsin the clean energy space in the first quarter, drawing $2.4 billion infunding.
"Geothermaland nuclear technologies continue to gain investor confidence," the firmwrote, highlighting Pacific Fusion's $900 million Series A funding, X Energy's$682.4 million Series C1, and Helion's $425 million Series F round.
Andinterest in different reactor designs is beginning to extend beyond privateinvestors. The Tennessee Valley Authority, owner of the Sequoyah nuclear plantand the nation's largest public power company, recently submitted a request fora permit to builda small nuclear reactor of its own.
"Wedon't want to say trying to make something better is ever bad," Witt said."So the more that we try to improve, the more we try to come up with newtechnologies — I think that's just better for everybody. It's better for theconsumers and it's better for the people."
Agood time to be in nuclear
Reignited interest in the nuclear industry could also help to attract aninfusion of new blood, Perfetti said, which the field desperately needs.
In his view, it's the perfect time to climb aboard the nuclearbandwagon.
"It's actually quite an exciting time in nuclear too, because thereare a lot of venture capitalist-supported startups that are really trying tochange things and trying to build some more innovative reactor designs,sometimes for things other than electricity production," Perfetti said."So, I think that there's a lot of excitement there."
Two massive cooling towers are being rehabilitated for nuclear powergeneration under Microsoft at the old Three Mile Island site. Small modularreactors may offer a smaller solution. The Washington Post/The Washington Postvia Getty Images© The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images
For young professionals looking for a steady career with opportunity invarying sectors, Perfetti believes nuclear is particularly fertile ground.
"There are lots of career opportunities in nuclear, in part becausenuclear is faced with a wave of retirements right now, so a lot of the industryis retiring," he said. "They're looking at younger people to replacethem, so there's lots of quick promotion opportunities."
