Google is one step closer to reaching its nuclear ambitions now that it’s working with public power utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to purchase electricity from a next-generation reactor. It’s the first power purchase agreement for technology this advanced that a US utility has made, according to the companies.
The plan is for TVA to buy electricity from a reactor being developed by engineering company Kairos Power in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Once the reactor is up and running, expected in 2030, it should start supplying electricity to the local grid that serves Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.
If they manage to pull this all off, it could help jumpstart a whole new era for nuclear energy
If they manage to pull this all off, it could help jumpstart a whole new era for nuclear energy in the US. The nation’s current fleet of nuclear reactors uses decades-old technology that has struggled to compete with cheap electricity from gas-fired power plants and solar and wind farms. Kairos Power is building one of the first reactors that proponents hope can usher in a resurgence of nuclear energy, and meet rising electricity demand from Big Tech and AI.
The announcement follows news that Google would purchase electricity from “multiple” small modular reactors designed by Kairos Power. The Hermes 2 demonstration plant is the first reactor being developed under that agreement. It expands on the first Hermes demonstration reactor that Kairos broke ground on in July of last year after receiving the first construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a non-water-cooled reactor in more than half a century.
Unlike conventional reactors that use water, Kairos’ technology uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant. Since the reactor’s molten salt coolant has a much higher boiling point than water and doesn’t reach a boil, the reactor can operate at relatively low pressure. A low-pressure reactor like Kairos’ technology is supposed to cut costs for nuclear energy by getting rid of the need to build big high-pressure containment structures.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee — where Kairos is building Hermes 2 — was once the headquarters for the Manhattan Project. Now, instead of housing facilities enriching uranium for the first atomic bombs, Oak Ridge has become a hub for nuclear energy projects and research.
Eventually, Google aims to help Kairos deploy 500 megawatts of new nuclear capacity in the US by 2035. For context, America’s 94 operating nuclear reactors had a combined capacity of 97,000MW in 2024 and accounted for just under 20 percent of the US electricity mix. Hermes 2 is supposed to reach a capacity of 50MW.
Companies that generate carbon pollution-free electricity, like nuclear energy and renewables, can make money by selling the electricity they provide to the power grid and by selling so-called clean energy attributes that are like separate certificates representing the environmental benefits of avoiding fossil fuel emissions. Google will receive clean energy attributes from the Hermes 2 plant through TVA.
Tech companies with climate goals often buy clean energy attributes to try to cancel out the pollution caused by their electricity use. By matching its electricity use with those certificates, a company might claim that it runs on clean energy even if it’s plugged into a power grid that still runs on dirty energy. Extra income from clean energy attributes is supposed to help developers add more carbon pollution-free power to the grid (although research has shown that the environmental benefits are often overestimated). Google’s carbon emissions rose again last year as it ramps up its AI offerings.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Read More
Justine Calma