JANE FONDA HARDEST HIT: Big Tech Is Paving the Way for a Nuclear Breakthrough.

Small modular nuclear reactors long seemed like moonshots with lots of promise but not enough commercial interest. That changed recently after tech giants with surging power needs for AI processing swooped in with announcements backing SMR projects.

Earlier this month, Google parent Alphabet said it signed a power purchase agreement with Kairos Power for an up-to-500-megawatt SMR project. Amazon said it would work with X-energy on a 320 MW project that is jointly backed by a utility in Washington state. These SMR projects won’t be built overnight. Both Google and Amazon expect their initial projects to come online by the 2030s at the earliest. Oracle is another company to watch: Chairman Larry Ellison said in an earnings call in September that the company is designing a 1 Gigawatt-plus data center with building permits for three SMR reactors.

SMRs come with the potential to solve some of nuclear energy’s biggest headaches: Cost, safety and time—at least, in theory. That is why tech companies’ backing is so crucial. The industry needs to test and learn before it can prove out the benefits.

Faster, please.

Earlier: Leftist realizes killing nuclear power means more C02 emissions, news at 11.