What could go wrong? Google throws support behind new nuclear reactors that will be used to power AI systems

Google is backing the construction of seven new small nuclear reactors in the United States in order to fuel the ballooning demand for electricity from artificial intelligence.

The California-based internet giant said Monday that it had signed a deal with atomic energy start-up Kairos Power to buy 500 megawatts of juice from a suite of new reactors set to come online between 2030 and 2035.

The deal, known as a power purchase agreement, is meant to accelerate the development of new nuclear technology just as tech firms helped popularise wind and solar energy throughout the 2010s.

Both Microsoft and Amazon have already signed nuclear agreements as they scramble to meet the vast electricity demands of competing in the AI race. AI systems often require a tremendous amount of energy, putting a strain on the grid and infrastructure.

"Since pioneering the first corporate purchase agreements for renewable electricity over a decade ago, Google has played a pivotal role in accelerating clean energy solutions, including the next generation of advanced clean technologies," Google said.

"Nuclear solutions offer a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands with carbon-free energy every hour of every day.

"Advancing these power sources in close partnership with supportive local communities will rapidly drive the decarbonization of electricity grids around the world."

The company added that AI is already "powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth,” arguing that nuclear power will "unlock [its] full potential for everyone."

Building and running modern AI systems is incredibly energy-intensive, as well as water-intensive. According to one estimate, a single ChatGPT query uses around ten times as much power as a Google search query, while the AI industry as a whole is predicted to draw about as much electricity per year as the entire country of the Netherlands by 2027.

This July, Google said that its greenhouse gas emissions had risen by 48 percent since 2019, largely driven by data centers running AI.

The new demand is also a problem for the US energy grid, which has caused tech firms to turn to unusual sources.

Last month, it was announced that Microsoft had signed a deal to reopen the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of an infamous reactor accident, while Amazon has bought a new data center powered by an existing nuclear power plant elsewhere in the Keystone State.

Kairos's plan is to build numerous small nuclear reactors, which would generate less than one-tenth of the power of a larger installation but would be far easier and quicker to deploy. According to Google, these new reactors are "inherently" safe and use molten fluoride salt as a coolant rather than water.

The exact location or locations for the new Kairos reactors has not yet been announced, and Google did not say how much it will pay the start-up or when that money will be handed over.

Regardless, by agreeing to buy a certain amount of power from them in future, Google will help Kairos move forward with developing the technology, which still has to go through a complicated government approval process.