Oracle to build SMR nuclear reactors for new data centers with a capacity of more than 1 GW

Oracle has received permits to build three small modular reactors (SMRs) to power artificial intelligence data centers. The company wants to power facilities with a capacity of more than 1 GW.

During the quarterly financial report, Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison said that the database and cloud services giant plans to build three SMRs. These are miniature nuclear reactors designed for mass production. Unlike conventional reactors at nuclear power plants, they will not require a large accompanying infrastructure. They are expected to be less expensive to operate and capable of producing tens or hundreds of megawatts of energy.

However, no SMRs are currently in operationand pilot projects have not yet been successful. Oracle’s interest in SMR as a power source comes amid plans to expand the number and capacity of data centers.

The company’s management did not say when the gigawatt data centers and SMR would be launched. According to the most optimistic third-party preliminary estimates, SMR technology as a power source for data centers will not start working until the early 2030s.

Despite the potential benefits, SMRs face significant obstacles to widespread deployment. Back in May, the American Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis reached the conclusion is that SMRs «are too expensive, too slow to build, and too risky to play a significant role in the transition away from fossil fuels».

However, this has not prevented large companies from planning to use nuclear reactors — SMRs or conventional ones. Earlier this year, Amazon acquired Talen Energy’s Cumulus data center for $650 million. The facility is located next to the 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear power plant, providing the cloud giant with access to 960 MW of power. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also become interested in SMR and has hired specialists to monitor the progress of their deployment.

Source: The Register