Google Goes Nuclear

How much power big tech companies require, mainly for AI and cloud computing data centres, can be seen in Google planning nuclear energy for its future needs. Last October, it had signed an agreement to purchase nuclear energy from Kairos Power, which plans to generate it through small modular reactors using nuclear fission. Now it has taken a stake in a venture, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), that plans to make energy from nuclear fusion. Fusion is the process by which atomic nuclei join together to release vast amounts of energy. It is what happens inside stars like the sun.

Google has not only acquired a shareholding in CFS but also made an agreement to purchase 200 megawatts of power when their commercial plant comes up in Virginia in the 2030s. That is enough to power a small town.  The technology and its commercialising are still a work in progress but Google will actively assist in it. As the company said in a blog, ‘Building on our initial R&D investment in CFS in 2021 for SPARC’s development, our new investment will support efforts to put their first commercial plant, ARC, on the grid. We hope our offtake agreement for CFS’s ARC will add momentum to these efforts, and as part of our agreement we have the option to purchase power from future plants.’

CFSclean energyCommonwealth Fusion SystemsGooglenuclear fusion