The following article is from Data Center Knowledge, written by Bill Kleyman

Editor's note.

"The end of AI is energy", which sums up the relationship between the increasingly large scale data centers and the increasingly tight energy supply. Compared with other energy sources, nuclear energy is more suitable for the power consumption needs of data centers in terms of carbon footprint, economic, stability, etc. and is also considered an ideal choice to alleviate the tension.

Through years of technical accumulation and research, the smaller, faster-deploying, and lower-cost small modular nuclear reactors have emerged, showing advantages in flexibility, efficiency, and demand matching, which are more suitable for the scale and delivery pace of data centers. I believe that the perfect combination of "nuclear energy + data center" will soon become a reality.

In the past few years, discussions about energy consumption in the data center industry have continued to increase. However, in the past year, significant technological changes have intensified discussions about renewable and clean energy.

According to the statistics of the market research company Omdia, in the second quarter of 2023, Omdia estimated that Nvidia shipped more than 900 tons (1.8 million pounds) of H100 compute GPUs for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. Yes, we now measure the shipment of GPUs in weight rather than sales. At a recent conference, Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Data Centers, made some simple estimates. If all of these GPUs were launched at once, it would consume more than 30 gigawatts of electricity.

The energy consumed by generative artificial intelligence may be quite astonishing. A Google search can power a 100-watt incandescent bulb for about 11 seconds. Compared with a single Google search, the power of instances such as GPT may be 600 to 800 times higher.

How do we adapt to such a large energy consumption?

01 Shift to a new power source: nuclear energy

Just as generative artificial intelligence quickly occupies the market, people have a new discussion on the long-existing power source. Specifically, it is nuclear energy. "We imagine a world without energy constraints," said Brett Kuehnermas, CEO of Last Energy, a developer of small modular reactors (SMRs) for private sector entities, including data centers. "We want people to live a high-energy life. To achieve this, energy production needs to be free from environmental impact, so clean energy needs to be abundant and cheap." At the same time, Brett proposed several key points, that is, what the nuclear power sector needs to do to meet the surging energy demand of data centers. First, it must maintain a high level of attention to deliverability, with technology as the starting point. There are now many new reactor designs that are attractive from an engineering perspective. However, the winning design will use verified technology to serve this market and be successful commercially. Last Energy uses a modernized and expanded design of a verified light-water reactor. By productizing the design and adjusting it appropriately for commercial use, such as data centers, they can deliver faster and more economically, and minimize financing and project delivery risks. Last Energy's SMR can be pre-assembled by 95%, transported by truck, and assembled on site. Although each unit is a 20-megawatt SMR, they can install as many units as the customer needs rather than building (and licensing) customized power plant designs. This solution is gaining recognition, and the company has signed contracts for several units of the PWR-20 power plant.

According to Kuehnermas, nuclear energy is not only the best way for the industry to move forward-it may be the only way: "The data center industry is an ideal place for onsite nuclear power. As the development speed of the industry becomes faster and faster, limitation of power supply becomes more and more evident. The industry is committed to procuring carbon-free electricity, but needs basic load power traditionally provided by natural gas or coal-fired power plants. Nuclear energy is the answer, and the industry is rapidly realizing this. "

Prototype of Last Energy's 20 MW "micro" nuclear power plant

Last Energy is not the only company supporting the industry to use more nuclear energy. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved another small modular reactor (SMR) design in the United States: the advanced "light water" SMR of NuScale, which generates more than 400 megawatts of power.

Last Energy is not the only company that supports the use of more nuclear energy in our industry. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved another small modular reactor (SMR) design in the USA: NuScale's advanced "light water" SMR, which generates over 400 megawatts of electricity.

In October 2023, Standard Power, a provider of hosting services, announced plans to use NuScale's SMR to build two nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, providing nearly 2 gigawatts of power to nearby data centers by 2029. If we look at the Northern Virginia market, in April 2023, real estate and project development company Green Energy Partners purchased 641 acres of land for a project that includes powering 20-30 data centers with four to six SMRs, producing hydrogen fuel, and providing backup power to the Virginia power grid. Furthermore, if we look at the latest developments, we have seen data center operators pay millions of dollars for nuclear energy. Equinix has just paid a $25 million upfront payment to nuclear reactor company Oklo to purchase up to 500 MW of nuclear energy.

The interest in nuclear power systems in the data center industry is growing. According to the AFCOM Data Center Status Report, the proportion of respondents who will use or at least consider nuclear power has more than doubled, reaching nearly a quarter (21%, up from 10% last year) between this year and last year.

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This year, at the AFCOM Data Center World event, Dr. Rian Bahran, current Assistant Director for Nuclear Technology and Strategy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), discussed the dynamic changes in clean energy use and policies that are reshaping our world.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Bahran delved into the crucial role of nuclear technology in strengthening energy networks, providing stable and efficient power sources for intermittent renewable energy such as solar and wind power. One of his focuses is to discuss the intersection of nuclear energy and digital infrastructure.

"Just last October, the government issued a groundbreaking executive order to ensure that the United States leads the world in harnessing the opportunities and managing the risks of Artificial Intelligence, including staying ahead in innovation and competition," said Dr. Bahran.

"In fact, the employment market associated with AI is growing rapidly, accounting for 2% of new jobs in the United States. All of these technological advances add extra load to our power generation infrastructure and have the potential to greatly impact the energy and power industry.

Dr. Bahran added, "Our best estimate shows that data centers currently consume roughly 1-2% of the US annual power consumption, and the broad IT industry accounts for roughly 5% of the total consumption. In some parts of Atlanta, Northern Virginia, Phoenix, and Texas and California, data centers account for a much larger share of regional load, putting enormous pressure on the power grid and utilities that supply them. Many countries estimate that data center loads could double by 2030."

Dr. Bahran delved into nuclear energy and its impact on digital infrastructure regarding the new applications generated by Generative Artificial Intelligence and the surrounding data. 'AI accounts for about 40% of the data center load and is the primary driver of future growth. Although there is significant uncertainty in these predictions, such as the rate of adoption of AI, the form of AI business models, and the potential for future efficiency, we know that pairing data centers with nuclear reactors capable of bringing high-quality, well-paying jobs for decades is a good idea.'

"This is a 'chicken or egg' situation," said Andrew Bocchman, Senior Non-Resident Researcher at the Global Energy Center and a Senior Grid Strategist and Infrastructure Defender at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). 'We are now in the mid-2024s entering what some call the 'electrification test. It's made up of an aging grid that will soon be asked to support lots of new workloads to help reduce carbon emissions and support the economy.'"

However, Bocchman pointed out that this electrification modernization is not easy. 'And it's even harder that we have to do all of this without adding more carbon dioxide or methane to the atmosphere,' he said. 'The answer may lie in the physics field we used in the mid-20th century, even though nuclear energy faces many challenges in public perception and cost when climate issues come before nuclear issues, everyone will want an SMR or micro-reactor.'"

"This is a 'chicken or egg' situation," said Andrew Bocchman, Senior Non-Resident Researcher at the Global Energy Center and a Senior Grid Strategist and Infrastructure Defender at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). 'We are now in the mid-2024s entering what some call the 'electrification test. It's made up of an aging grid that will soon be asked to support lots of new workloads to help reduce carbon emissions and support the economy.'

"To better illustrate this, Bocchman gave several examples of how these nuclear resources will impact the current AI power constraints. 'If they're approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and can be scaled today, especially to support the development of GenAI, you'll see them flying off the shelf. But there's some lag time. However, people at my Idaho National Laboratory, the industry, and elsewhere are working day and night to hopefully quickly and safely turn new designs into reality.'"

In conclusion,

Emerging plans and government initiatives support SMRs and advanced nuclear systems. These plans are at the forefront of nuclear technology, offering safer, more flexible, and cost-effective solutions that are in line with our modern energy needs.

I would also like to briefly discuss safety. Brett of Last Energy said, 'Water-based reactors, even old models, do not have the inherent risk profile that people think they do.' Additionally, modern design makes nuclear technology safer than ever before.

To provide power to AI, we need to be more creative. Compared to a year or two ago, we are demanding datacenter leaders deploy physical infrastructure with several times the energy consumption. One simple reality is that we must seek out new, stable, and clean energy sources to supplement intermittent wind power. I believe the rise of AI will also drive the rapid emergence of new innovative power solutions to support modern digital infrastructure.