Google has revealed plans to get in the way in the adoption of atomic energy for the data center. At the Data Center World 2025 in Washington DC, the company explained some of the details of its partnership with Cairo’s Power to develop up to 500 MW atomic energy through small modular reactors (SMRs). Supported by a $ 300 million grant from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor demonstration program, this initiative aims for the first implementation in 2030 with further expansion of the site through 2035.
“The race to operate AI-driven data centers accelerating, and ensuring sustainable, reliable energy in scale is more critical than ever,” said Lucia Tian, ​​leader of pure energy and decarbonization at Google. “This project is a facet of Google’s goal of being carbon -free of 24 x 7 x 365 base by matching our electricity demand with pure sources.”
For the past several years, the company has been an important buyer of wind and solar energy resources, but the power requirements for the latest generative AI applications have changed the game. Google needs more power than ever and develops a wide portfolio of pure energy assets; This now includes core energy as well as geothermal effect.
“This strategy is far more cost -effective and reliable, as we have to operate on more than variable wind and sun,” Tian said.
Anyone who wants to build a brand new nuclear system on a large scale can expect to wait as long as a decade before they experience the benefits of available energy production. SMRs are seen as a way of reducing the delay. The first units are expected to enter the operation at the end of the decade.
Atomic Energy is growing in public acceptance
Tian affected the sudden face in the public perception of atomic energy. Over the past two years, everything has changed, she said. Until 2022, nuclear systems were either closed or planned for shutdown; Now shutdowns of facilities such as Palisades in Michigan and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania are again. In addition, some of these resumed facilities will also host new SMRs.
“Support for new nuclear energy has risen in the United States for the past few years,” Tian said. “The communities where there is an active nuclear energy production are incredibly supportive. However, some countries accept less that core energy and we must be sensitive to local needs.”
See: Google, Amazon, Meta Back Goals for Massively More More Global Nuclear Capacity by 2050
Partner to nuclear success
Tian emphasized the importance of collaborating in the development of atom energy resources. Google is an expert at Cloud, Search, AI and many other facets of it, but not energy production; Therefore, the company’s partnership with Kairos Power in the development of SMRs.
Jeff Olson, Vice President of Business Development and Finance at Cairos Power, said Google catalyzing the resuscitation of nuclear energy and SMRs in the United States. His company develops and commercializes a 150 MW reactor; Modules of this size can be grouped together to create larger generation blocks.
Initial SMR design of a scaled-down version has undergone a comprehensive test. When done, a full -size unit will be built and validated before Cairos enters the commercialization phase.
“We thought utilities would be our first customers, but Google came up with a strong desire to speed up the development,” Olson said.
Larger SMR’s for data centers
Cairo’s Power thought 150 MW would be more than enough for the data center market, but customers like Google are now talking about 1 GW data centers. This need can be met, he said, by combining a series of 150 MW SMR units in one place.
“The more units you implement, the greater economies of scale,” Olson said. “The data center industry is inspiring nuclear innovation, and AI creates demand.”