{"id":347680,"date":"2024-10-19T17:58:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T15:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=347680"},"modified":"2024-10-19T17:58:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-19T15:58:28","slug":"google-amazon-give-up-on-national-grid-ignore-renewables-and-buy-their-own-nuclear-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=347680","title":{"rendered":"Google, Amazon, give up on national grid, ignore renewables, and buy their own nuclear plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From JoNova <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jo Nova<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Soon every tech billionaire will have their own nuclear power plant<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Two weeks ago it was Microsoft reviving Three Mile Island\u2019s nuclear plant<\/a>. Now Google is buying seven small modular reactors, and Amazon is  spending $500 million USD on part of a nuclear energy company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too bad for the deplorables who get stuck with the expensive wind-solar-battery clunker spaghetti-grid forced on them by the arts graduates in Parliament. An AI datacentre needs all the same thing a human city does \u2014 cheap gigawatts, 24 hours a day. The number-nerd men with money have all decided the cheapest reliable answer to running their AI data center cities, while pretending to fix the weather, is nuclear power. (Coal, of course, is cheaper which is why China uses so much, but it\u2019s against the religion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unwashed masses won\u2019t get that choice, of course, to sign up with whatever generator they want. Only the uber rich get that kind of luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every one of these tech giants could have poured that money into wind farms and gardens of solar panels, backed up with acres of batteries and ten thousand miles of high voltage towers, pumped hydro, and synchronous condenser flywheels. But none of them want to pour in their own billions anymore, despite the social credit points bonanza and the bragging rights that would bring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For twenty years these same people have been pushing the renewable hard sell on us, now overnight, without so much as a \u201csorry\u201d they\u2019ve all flipped, leaving us holding the can of decrepit national grids that can\u2019t do what they were designed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google will build seven small nuclear reactors, the first by 2030\u2026Our PM and the CSIRO must be feeling hung-out-to-dry. They declared nuclear was the most expensive option <\/a>and said Australia couldn\u2019t even build one before 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google signs deal with startup to build small nuclear reactors to power AI<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Aljazeera<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google has signed a landmark deal to use electricity produced by small nuclear reactors to power its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the agreement with startup Kairos Power announced on Monday, the California-based tech giant will back the construction of seven small nuclear reactors capable of generating 500 megawatts of power. The first reactor is scheduled to come online by 2030, with others to follow in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth,\u201d Michael Terrell, the senior director of energy and climate at Google, said in a blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days later, Amazon too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon follows Google in taking the nuclear option to power data centres<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

EuroNews<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon is investing in US firm X-energy to utilise nuclear reactors to power its data centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon and X-energy are aiming to have more than 5 gigawatts of SMR-generated power operational by 2039.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reactors are currently under development, with none currently providing power to the electric grid in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big investors can help change that, and these announcements could be the \u201cinflection point\u201d that makes scaling up this technology truly possible, Huff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feel the heat. Only weeks ago these same billionaires were raving about renewable energy, downranking and censoring the skeptics\u2026 now they are doing exactly what we said all along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago it was\u00a0Microsoft reviving Three Mile Island\u2019s nuclear plant. Now Google is buying seven small modular reactors, and Amazon is\u00a0 spending $500 million USD on part of a nuclear energy company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":347686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691826701,691819793,691824094,691819275],"class_list":{"0":"post-347680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-amazon","9":"tag-google","10":"tag-microsoft","11":"tag-small-modular-reactors","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0SMR-CM-RENDER-New-2020-1.webp?fit=1648%2C918&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1srK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":388429,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=388429","url_meta":{"origin":347680,"position":0},"title":"For National Security, We Need Uranium Mined in America","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps it\u2019s too soon to mark nuclear power\u2019s revival in the U.S. but there is a burst of activity that should ultimately yield a new generation of advanced nuclear plants and small modular reactors.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In \"AI (artificial intelligence)\"","block_context":{"text":"AI (artificial intelligence)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ai-artificial-intelligence-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG1.HZ0Fbw.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG1.HZ0Fbw.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG1.HZ0Fbw.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG1.HZ0Fbw.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":345090,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=345090","url_meta":{"origin":347680,"position":1},"title":"Germany Risks being Left behind\u2026Big Tech Confirms CO2 Neutrality Only Possible With Nuclear Power","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Germany\u2019s green movement was propelled mainly by activists opposed to nuclear power in the 1980s and 90s. Since then, Germany has shut down its entire fleet of nuclear power reactors and is struggling to keep the lights on with renewable energy, mainly wind and sun.","rel":"","context":"In \"Germany\"","block_context":{"text":"Germany","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=germany"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Germany.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Germany.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Germany.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Germany.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Germany.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":345398,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=345398","url_meta":{"origin":347680,"position":2},"title":"First hint of energy squeeze and Big Tech drops the wind and solar purity, and launches into nuclear power","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/04\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Google, Oracle, Microsoft were all raving fans of renewable energy, but all of them have given up trying to reach \u201cnet zero\u201d with wind and solar power. In the rush to feed the baby AI gargoyle, instead of lining the streets with wind turbines and battery packs, they\u2019re all suddenly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Big Tech\"","block_context":{"text":"Big Tech","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=big-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C683&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":414357,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=414357","url_meta":{"origin":347680,"position":3},"title":"A Nuclear Resurgence, But Major Obstacles Remain","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/23\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A nuclear energy resurgence is underway, driven by the artificial intelligence revolution and the Trump administration. Nuclear plants that were shut down are being restarted. Dozens of small reactors are being deployed. But nuclear power still faces major cost, startup time, and regulatory obstacles.","rel":"","context":"In \"Artificial Intelligence (AI)\"","block_context":{"text":"Artificial Intelligence (AI)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=artificial-intelligence-ai"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0doKPOnQY.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0doKPOnQY.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0doKPOnQY.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0doKPOnQY.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0doKPOnQY.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":352138,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=352138","url_meta":{"origin":347680,"position":4},"title":"Reopening Palisades power plant shores up Michigan\u2019s electricity security","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/23\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Nuclear power as a means of energy production has in recent decades become a taboo topic in the minds of many Americans. Despite having developed into the world\u2019s cleanest method of generating electricity, western nations continue to abandon and decommission nuclear power plants in favor of less reliable and more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Lake Michigan\"","block_context":{"text":"Lake Michigan","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=lake-michigan"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00wp7844501.webp?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00wp7844501.webp?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00wp7844501.webp?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00wp7844501.webp?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00wp7844501.webp?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":351318,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=351318","url_meta":{"origin":347680,"position":5},"title":"FERCing the nuclear-powered data center","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/15\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On Monday, November 4 \u2014 the day before Election Day \u2013 many\u00a0nuclear power stocks\u00a0were in the dumps. The sharp declines in their stock value had almost nothing to do with the federal election \u2014 but everything to do with federal bureaucrats and, quite possibly, the influence of utilities Exelon and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American Electric Power\"","block_context":{"text":"American Electric Power","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=american-electric-power"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0homepage-hero-voygr.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0homepage-hero-voygr.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0homepage-hero-voygr.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0homepage-hero-voygr.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0homepage-hero-voygr.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347680"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347690,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347680\/revisions\/347690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/347686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}