Bill Gates’ nuclear energy startup signs modern data center deal

TerraPower, a nuclear energy startup founded by Bill Gates, concluded a contract this week with one of the largest data center developers in the US to deploy advanced nuclear reactors. TerraPower and Sabey Data Centers (SDC) are collaborating on a plan to leverage existing and future nuclear power facilities from petite reactors.

Tech companies are scrambling to figure out where to get all the electricity needed for power-hungry AI data centers that are putting increasing pressure on power grids. They are increasingly turning to nuclear energy, including next-generation reactors being developed by start-ups such as TerraPower.

“After decades of business as usual, the energy sector is transforming at an unprecedented pace, and meaningful progress will require strategic collaboration across industries,” TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said in a press release.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies establishes a “strategic collaboration” that will initially include exploring the potential for modern nuclear power plants in Texas and the Rocky Mountain region that would power SDC data centers.

We still have a long way to go before this becomes a reality. TerraPower’s technology and the similar nuclear startups it is developing have yet to clear regulatory hurdles and prove they can be commercially viable.

Compared to older, larger nuclear power plants, the modern generation reactors are expected to be smaller and easier to locate. Nuclear energy is seen as an alternative to fossil fuels that cause climate change. But it still faces opposition from some advocates concerned about the effects of uranium mining and dumping of radioactive waste near communities.

“I very much believe that nuclear energy can assist us solve the climate problem, which is very, very essential. There are designs that I think minimize these problems in terms of safety, fuel efficiency or waste management,” Gates said. Edge last year.

According to the company, the Natrium reactor designed for this collaboration is the only advanced technology of its kind for which a commercial reactor permit application is pending before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Just a company broke the ground last year on a demonstration project in Wyoming and expects it to come online in 2030.

In September, Microsoft struck a deal to assist restart the decommissioned reactor at Three Mile Island. Meanwhile, both Google and Amazon announced plans last year to support the development of advanced reactors to power their data centers.