USA technology giants are working hard to meet the increasing electricity demand of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its applications. Microsoft recently reached an agreement to use nuclear energy from restarting abandoned nuclear power plants as a source of energy for datacenter's energy consumption. Google is also not lagging behind, as they are researching methods to utilize green energy sources, focusing on nuclear energy as well.

On Thursday, October 3rd, local time in Tokyo, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet, revealed during an interview with Nikkei Asia that Google is researching the use of nuclear energy, a potential "green" energy source, to generate electricity for its data centers. When talking about generative AI, he said: "For the first time in our history, we have a foundational technology that permeates everything we do today. I think we have a lot to do in this respect."

However, Google's significant investment in AI has led to some "side effects": Two months ago, Google's annual environmental report revealed a 48% increase in greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 to 2023 due to the expansion of data centers supporting AI systems. This means that the electricity demand generated by AI systems may make it difficult for Google to achieve its decarbonization goals. Three years ago, Google committed to achieve net-zero direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, ensuring that its grid is powered 24/7 by zero-carbon energy sources. As the year approaches 2030, Google may have to find ways to ensure access to green energy while controlling carbon emissions.

In this context, as 2030 approaches, Google may have to find ways to secure green energy sources while controlling carbon emissions.

Pichai said on Thursday that Google's aforementioned decarbonization goal by 2030 is "very ambitious," and "we will very ambitiously strive towards this goal. Clearly, the trajectory of AI investment increases the scale of the task required for emissions reduction." He then added:

"We are currently considering additional investments, such as solar energy, and evaluating technologies like small modular nuclear reactors."

Media reports interviewing Pichai from Nikkei News pointed out that Pichai did not explicitly state where Google might procure nuclear power. Most of the electricity may come from restarting "waste heat recycling" such as Microsoft did, by reactivating the once catastrophic Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the USA.

Wall Street Journal recently mentioned in an article that, due to the need for large amounts of clean energy to meet its ai datacenter electrical utilities demand, Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the largest nuclear reactor operator in the United States, Constellation Energy, last month - the Three Mile Agreement, restarting the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and selling all the generated electricity to Microsoft. This may incentivize the optimization and expansion of the nuclear energy supply chain, including uranium mining, nuclear fuel processing, nuclear reactor construction, and maintenance, among others.

This agreement shows the huge potential for clean energy demand in the market, as the demand for nuclear energy, as a stable and low-carbon energy choice, may continue to grow with the increase in power demand from data centers and other large energy consumers.

Last Wednesday, Oklo, a nuclear energy startup chaired by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced that its first commercial micro-reactor is entering the preliminary construction phase. Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte mentioned the significance of restarting the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant that day, calling it a "proof" for the technology industry to see the "importance of rising energy demand and securing reliable energy supply."

DeWitte believes that the nuclear energy industry is "seriously lagging in meeting market demand." He said the U.S. Department of Energy has approved Oklo to start site selection surveys for micro-reactors, which will focus on infrastructure planning, environmental surveys, and geotechnical assessments. He expects Oklo to start construction at the Idaho site in 2026, with plans for the reactor to start operating in 2027.

Some commentators suggest that the acceptability of nuclear energy transactions in the financing market is increasing. This is because governments and tech giants around the world understand that the only way to achieve ambitious net zero carbon emission goals is not through cecep solar energy and wind energy, but through nuclear energy.

After Constellation Energy reached a 20-year agreement with Microsoft to sell electricity from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant last month, a group of uranium mining stocks and nuclear energy concept stocks soared in the U.S. market. A report released by Goldman Sachs last month also mentioned the prospects of uranium price increases.

The report states that, given the constructive view of the role of nuclear energy in the entire energy transition, Goldman Sachs believes that uranium prices may continue to rise gradually over time due to strong demand fundamentals (new reactor construction, restarts, and expansions) and limited expectations for increased supply by the end of this century.