Category: Nuclear Power Engineering

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The AI Race Is Causing the Rising Demand for Nuclear Reactor Power Plants

From InterestingEngineering.com: Atharva Gosavi

Nuclear-Pwr-Plant
InterestingEngineering.com: Four-reactor project at Seadrift in Texas (X-energy)

The AI race is causing a rising demand for nuclear power plants. “By 2030, U.S. data centers could consume anywhere between 214 TWh to 675 TWh annually – a 2.6x increase compared to 2023 consumption. Due to intermittency, transmission limitations, and carbon constraints, renewable and fossil fuels fall massively short of fulfilling these demands.

Amazon just announced a partnership with X-energy, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP), and Doosan Enerbility to build advanced small modular reactors (SMRs) in the United States. The partnership aims to accelerate their deployment to meet data centers and AI’s growing power demands. The partnership will deploy X-energy’s Xe-100 SMRs, coupled with TRISO-X fuel – a high-assurance form widely considered one of the safest in the nuclear sector.”

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Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Demand Expected to Grow Exponentially within the next 10-Years

From EnergyNews.pro

EnergyNews-SMR-Demand
Image: EnergyNews

The small modular reactor (SMR) global demand is expected to grow exponentially over the next 10-years, “according to a report published by Guidehouse Research. Revenues generated by this technology are projected to increase from $375.8 million in 2025 to $8.1 billion in 2034, while annual installed capacity would reach 1,224 megawatts.

Worldwide, around 30 gigawatts of SMR projects are identified at different stages of development, from design to construction. Guidehouse Research points to nearly 60 developers active in this field, some relying on proven nuclear technologies, others seeking to deploy advanced reactors to broaden the range of applications.”

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Constellation is Expanding its Nuclear Fleet at the Clinton Site with Help from Meta

From PowerMag.com: Sonal Patel

Constellation-Clinton-Plant-from-PowerMag
Image from Constellation’s Clinton Plant: from PowerMag.com

Constellation completed a 20-year power purchase contractual agreement with Meta for 1,121 MW of clean power. Constellation is seeking nuclear construction rights from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as it plans to deploy either an advanced reactor or small modular style reactor (SMR).

“The 20-year agreement includes a 30-MW uprate at Clinton, which Constellation expects to be fully complete in 2029 and to qualify for the federal technology-neutral 45Y clean electricity production tax credit preserved under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

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TVA Submitted the Nation’s First Construction Permit Application to the NRC for a new Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Plant

TVA.com: Scott Fiedler

TVA-Clinch-River-GE-SMR
Image: TVA.com Clinch River, GE SMR

TVA announced it was “the first utility in the U.S. to submit a construction permit application (CPA) for the GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) small modular reactor (SMR) BWRX-300 technology to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission – the agency that issues licenses for constructing, operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants.

This CPA is TVA’s next step in pursuing an SMR at its Clinch River site, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and establishing America’s energy dominance to power artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing.

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Google Signs Agreement for New Renewable Energy to Power AI Facilities

FoxNews.com: Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report

Google-Nuclear-Fusion-Power-Deal
Image: FoxNews.com: Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson

Google recently signed its first ever energy power contract for nuclear fusion technology with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) in taking the next step forward in renewable clean energy. “CFS is an MIT spin-out working to build one of the world’s first commercial fusion reactors. This Google fusion deal marks a pivotal moment for the tech giant as it looks to secure reliable, carbon-free power for its growing AI operations.”

Google plans to purchase up to “200 megawatts of power from CFS’s planned ARC fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia, which will help power Google’s expanding network of AI data centers.”

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Copper Prices Are Expected to Rise!

TheAlantic.com: Annie Lowrey

Copper-Prices-Expected-to-Rise
Image: TheAtlantic.com: Getty

Copper prices for all imported copper into the U.S. are expected to rise as much as 50% or more due to the threat of new tariffs that are expected to begin as early as August 2025.

The electric power and electronics industries will be impacted the most with paying nearly double for copper related materials needed for new construction, new assembly, power grid improvements, maintenance replacements, and necessary repairs.

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