Source: Wall Street See

A major announcement has been made in the technology industry, in order to meet the increasing electrical demands of AI.$Oracle (ORCL.US)$considering adopting next-generation nuclear energy technology to support the operation of its super datacenter. Some analysts believe, "The ultimate destination of AI may be nuclear power".

This week, Oracle's chairman Larry Ellison announced during the earnings conference call that the company is designing a datacenter expected to require over 1 gigawatt of electrical power, which will be powered by three small nuclear reactors. He mentioned that these reactors have obtained construction permits and locations have been identified.

The outlook for these small modular nuclear reactors seems promising, with a power output not exceeding 300 megawatts, potentially enabling faster deployment of carbon-free energy sources. However, some analysts predict that small modular reactors may not be commercialized in the USA until the 2030s.

Coincidentally, nuclear energy startup Oklo, supported by Sam Altman, went public in May and is expected to launch its first reactor by 2027.

Oklo, a company utilizing liquid metal reactor technology to manufacture nuclear power plants, with power ranging from 15 megawatts to 50 megawatts, is considered a "potential solution to extreme energy demands brought by artificial intelligence".

Although licensing and fuel supply are still bottlenecks for the company, it has been selected by the US Department of Energy and has received four cost-sharing awards to promote the commercialization of advanced recycling technology. It has also obtained site use permits from the Department of Energy and fuel rewards from the Idaho National Laboratory.

Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo, said, "We're trying to design and approach the entire project in the most reasonable way possible so we can build as quickly as possible."

He also expressed excitement about the diversity of customers, as it indicates that their scale and business model clearly align with customer interests. Customers don't start using such power-intensive facilities overnight, but typically build gradually, aiming for dynamic growth of n+1 or n+2.

He added:

"If you're building a 300-megawatt reactor, you actually can't do that, but we can, and that adds a lot of value."

According to Lazard's analysis, the cost of Oklo's Aurora Power Station 15-megawatt reactor version is approximately $70 million, with a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of $80-130 per megawatt-hour, similar to peak natural gas power plants and offshore wind power.

It is worth noting that Ellison is already a well-known supporter of Tesla's new energy, so can we expect some collaboration between Oklo and Oracle?

Editor / jayden