Small modular reactors get their first major commercial customer

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Google has ordered six to seven small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) from startup Kairos Power, becoming the first tech company to commission new nuclear power plants to power its energy-hungry AI data centers with low-carbon electricity.

Monday technological The technology giant said it has placed an order for 500 megawatts of SMR reactors, which will help fast-growing startup Kairos commission its first commercial reactor by 2030 and additional reactors by 2035. This means that Kairos' brainchild has its first commercial customer right away, bypassing the unpaid pilot stage that is a burden on the creator.



The agreement marks a major milestone for both companies in their commitment to sustainability. Nuclear energy can play a major role in meeting rising demand and providing 24-hour power.

Google doesn't forget about public benefit: the new fleet of reactors will be partly connected to the public grid and partly to the tech giant's data centers.

Both companies declined to comment on the value of the agreement or whether Google would finance the construction of the SMRs up front or simply pay for the electricity once they are built.

Google's deal with Kairos is the first time a tech company has helped commission a nuclear power plant, much less one with multiple reactors. The U.S., for example, has commissioned only three reactors in the past 20 years.
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  1. Sergey Latyshev
    Sergey Latyshev
    +1
    15 October 2024 09: 48
    Well, let's go ahead.
  2. Paul3390
    Paul3390
    +1
    15 October 2024 10: 18
    Could someone explain where, and most importantly how, they are going to spend the waste? what
    1. strange guest
      strange guest
      0
      15 October 2024 19: 06
      The US nuclear power industry is the largest in the world in terms of energy produced. There are 93 nuclear reactors in operation in the US with a total capacity of 95,5 GW.

      They put it somewhere. YesFor comparison, Russia has 11 nuclear power plants with 37 operating power units.
      1. Paul3390
        Paul3390
        0
        15 October 2024 19: 12
        Well, it's known where. In classic nuclear power plants, the waste is kept for several years in on-site pools, gradually cooling and waiting for the short-lived highly active actinides to burn out. Because freshly pulled out assemblies simply emit a wild radiation and heat up. And only then - in special containers they are dragged either for reprocessing or disposal.

        And what are they going to do with mini nuclear power plants? Build a swimming pool next to them? Where is the benefit then? Transportation without aging is very, very dangerous and no less expensive...
        1. strange guest
          strange guest
          0
          15 October 2024 19: 15
          No, transportation. The same as Rosatom on small reactors. The same as all over the world on aircraft carriers and submarines. Unloading - loading. There are two 550 MW reactors on the Nimitz. The capacity is quite comparable.
          1. Paul3390
            Paul3390
            0
            15 October 2024 19: 19
            Well, yes. Unloading from military small reactors is carried out exclusively in special zones at naval bases equipped with all possible protection systems. Are you suggesting building the same one next to each civilian one? By the way, then military assemblies are cooled in the same way in pools. Even admirals cannot cancel physics. Transportation is by special road in no less special containers. Now imagine - how much does it cost plus the delivery route from a special zone in the middle of nowhere to such a structure? Or are you suggesting transporting it straight along the highway in a barrel? Or even along a dirt road?
            1. strange guest
              strange guest
              0
              15 October 2024 19: 26
              Well, as an option - the new aircraft carriers of the Gerald Ford type have new A1B reactors.

              The reactor can operate without replacing fuel rods for 50 years. It is the first nuclear reactor that does not require refueling during the entire service life of an aircraft carrier..

              Once every 50 years, loading and unloading can be done. Or even the Small Modular Reactor itself can be shut down and removed)
    2. Flight
      Flight
      0
      16 October 2024 00: 54
      Could someone explain where, and most importantly how, they are going to spend the waste?

      They'll sink it next to Fukushima, one dose more, one less, the Japs won't even notice, they've apparently already developed immunity to radiation, like cockroaches.
  3. prior
    prior
    +2
    15 October 2024 10: 28
    The terrorists applaud.
    You take a small UAV. You attach a small bomb to it. You drop this bomb on a small modular nuclear reactor, not protected by any air defense. And you have a guaranteed small nuclear explosion with major social consequences.
    Zadornov was right when he talked about the Americans.
    1. strange guest
      strange guest
      0
      15 October 2024 19: 12
      Today, Rosatom State Corporation offers customers low-power nuclear power plants (LPNPP) in land-based and floating versions based on the latest RITM series reactor units.

      https://rusatom-overseas.com/ru/smr/

      So Zadornov wasn't just talking about Americans. Yes
  4. Flight
    Flight
    0
    15 October 2024 12: 45
    The tech giant and technology provider said Monday that the company has placed an order for 500 MW of SMR reactors, which will help fast-growing startup Kairos commission its first commercial reactor by 2030 and additional reactors by 2035.

    And somewhere in distant Africa, hungry black children throw away spoiled food due to a lack of electricity.
  5. Vladimir Tuzakov
    Vladimir Tuzakov
    0
    16 October 2024 12: 14
    Google has ordered six to seven small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) from startup Kairos Power,

    The key word is - a startup company, which means a recently created new company without experience, developments, or introduced reactors. And the risks are tenfold, because nuclear energy is not even space falling rockets of new startup companies, but nuclear reactors with the most dangerous consequences. Conclusion: it seems that the orders declared by "Google" will probably remain good intentions, because nuclear energy does not tolerate amateurism.
    1. strange guest
      strange guest
      0
      16 October 2024 17: 29
      All the companies in the world did this for the first time at some point. Without any experience of predecessors - because there were no predecessors. On a different technological base. And nothing, they coped.
      1. Vladimir Tuzakov
        Vladimir Tuzakov
        0
        16 October 2024 19: 09
        Small companies start small and then develop into big projects. Here, on the contrary, the small one has set its sights on the big one - the result is predictable, failure, only the consequences can be disastrous...
        1. strange guest
          strange guest
          0
          16 October 2024 20: 02
          I'll tell you a terrible secret - Westinghouse NEVER worked on nuclear reactors before 1947. And there was no one to even ask - how to make one? And then - BAM!

          The S2W light-water nuclear reactor developed by the company became the main prototype for US nuclear submarines for a whole decade. It was installed on the first nuclear submarine Nautilus, launched on January 1, 1955. Almost all aircraft carriers of the Nimitz and Enterprise classes, nuclear cruisers of the Virginia, California and Long Beach classes, as well as nuclear submarines of the Ohio, Lafayette, Ethan Allen, George Washington, Los Angeles and other classes operate on reactors developed by Westinghouse Electric Corp. and General Electric Corp.
          And in 1957, the first civilian nuclear power plant in the United States was built in Shippingport (a suburb of Pittsburgh).

          And how did they manage to do this without any experience?
          1. Vladimir Tuzakov
            Vladimir Tuzakov
            0
            16 October 2024 20: 32
            Well, yes, Westinghouse is a startup company!? Don't spread more nonsense.
            1. strange guest
              strange guest
              0
              16 October 2024 21: 26
              Don't throw around nonsense. What experience did they have in nuclear energy? At that time, they knew less about it than any current startup. And even less than a modern Caltech graduate.
              1. Vladimir Tuzakov
                Vladimir Tuzakov
                0
                16 October 2024 22: 26
                If you confuse the capabilities of an elephant and a dog, or the desire to be right despite all logic, then these are already problems of your behavior and understanding.
                1. strange guest
                  strange guest
                  0
                  16 October 2024 22: 45
                  You don't know how to debate. Apparently, your lack of education is showing.
                  In conclusion of the discussion, I would like to remind you that many used the same arguments about the “elephant and the pug” in the early 2000s in relation to Musk and his SpaceX.