According to the Wise News Finance, as global interest in low-carbon energy grows, the United States is negotiating the deployment of small modular nuclear reactors with several Southeast Asian countries. Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Energy, Andrew Light, said US officials have discussed this issue with officials from the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Speaking at the Singapore International Energy Week conference on Tuesday, Light stated that the US could engage in intergovernmental discussions on the current array of small reactors.

Southeast Asia, with a population of over 0.5 billion, is considering nuclear energy as a way to meet rapidly growing energy demands while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. The Philippines aims to have its first nuclear power plant by 2032, and Vietnam and Indonesia are also considering adopting this technology.

Traditional nuclear reactors take several years to build, whereas small modular reactors are much smaller in size, can be built in a factory, transported by truck or train, and then assembled on-site, saving time and money. Although several US companies are developing this technology, it has not yet been widely commercialized.

Light mentioned that he had discussions with officials in Singapore, where they are considering constructing a modular reactor. He stated that officials also met with counterparts from Thailand, which is renewing an agreement with the US to share non-weapon nuclear equipment.

AI's 'power-hungry' nature has led technology giants to invest heavily in the layout of small modular nuclear reactors, with related concept stocks surging recently.

Recently, the surge in artificial intelligence and other computational activities has driven the booming development of power-hungry datacenters, helping to boost energy demand for the first time in decades. Oklo (OKLO.US), a developer of small nuclear power plants invested by OpenAI, stated that small nuclear power stations and datacenters are an ideal combination. Oklo is one of the companies pursuing new reactor technologies. Currently, widely used large traditional nuclear power plants typically have capacities of around 1000 megawatts, enough to power tens of thousands of homes. Oklo is developing a smaller 15-megawatt nuclear power plant.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a relatively new and innovative form of nuclear energy generation, compared to traditional nuclear power plants, SMRs are designed to be more compact, with shorter construction periods, controllable costs, and higher safety. The core advantage of SMRs lies in their flexibility and scalability. Compared to large nuclear power plants, SMRs can be built in modular fashion, suitable for small-scale and decentralized grids, better able to meet the electrical needs of emerging markets and remote areas.

With the increasing power demand for data centers, manufacturing, and broader economic electrification, small modular nuclear reactors are a new design expected to accelerate the deployment of reliable, carbon-free energy. In general, these reactors have a power of 300 megawatts or less, about one-third of the typical reactors in the United States. They will be prefabricated in several pieces and then assembled on site, thereby reducing the high capital costs that hinder large-scale factories.

Thanks to the convenience of this technology, leaders in the AI field have also heavily invested in this area. Last week, Google announced it had signed an agreement with Kairos Power to purchase the planned 6-7 small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) for a total capacity of 500 megawatts to meet the growing demand for electricity. The transaction details show that both parties have signed a power purchase agreement, with Kairos planning to deliver the reactors between 2030 and 2035, and the exact construction location is yet to be determined.

Also last week, Amazon announced its investment in small nuclear reactors and signed an agreement with Dominion Energy to explore the development of small modular nuclear reactors near Dominion's existing North Anna nuclear power station.

Last month, Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear reactor operator in the USA, for the Three Mile Island agreement, reopening the Three Mile Island nuclear power station and selling all power output to Microsoft.

Oracle's Chairman and co-founder Larry Ellison announced last month that the company is designing a datacenter that will require over 1 gigawatt of power; he added that the datacenter will be powered by three small nuclear reactors.

At the same time, nuclear energy stocks in the US stock market have seen significant gains recently, especially for companies like Oklo and NuScale Power. On Monday, stocks related to small nuclear reactors continued to surge, with NANO Nuclear Energy (NNE.US) up over 34%, Oklo up over 22%, and NuScale Power up over 4%.

编辑/Wade