Big Tech is Going Nuclear!

Big tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google are driving the nuclear revival, as to get new power-hungry data centers built in the US and Europe, they have to solve the problem of power generation. Their net zero pledges mean that the sources of power that they have pledged to use have to be low carbon, and they have already invested heavily in wind and solar, but their data centers still need a steady base load, so for big tech, investing in nuclear energy makes a lot of sense.

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[Croz]

Honestly, I see this as a win-win. Even if the AI bubble pops, we'll have lots of clean, reliable baseload energy to put to better use.

[Shadowpaw]

Nuclear’s PR problem is that when something goes bad at a nuclear plant, it’s big, loud, and immediate. Coal and oil pollution is slow and ignorable, like a frog in a pot slowly brought to boiling. 10 people vaporized in a nuclear meltdown is a lot more understandable and scary than 100 people dying young to lung cancer and heart problems.

[ettfdf]

Environmentalists teaming up with big oil to be against nuclear power is one of those things that shouldn't be a thing, but big oil really did a number on them, sadly.

[haroldsandahl]

I must disagree with you. Fusion is 50 years away and has been 50 years away for the last 70 years

[getnohappy]

Fukushima managed to survive an earthquake and tsunami mostly in tact, so of course it was sensible for Germany - a country seldom afflicted by either - to abandon its nuclear plants out of safety concerns...

[Antcarhuman]

Did you hear about the crab that went to the underwater disco? …..
He pulled a mussel.

[instanoodles]

Big tech is finally realizing that you cant power servers with renewable energy credits.

[bennwalton]

I work in energy and it's hard to overstate how much the grid planners' forecasts have changed in the last 18 months. The NYISO is saying there will be supply shortages (see: blackouts) in nyc if certain key utility projects don't finish construction on time, I think in '26 and '27. They forecast "peak demand" going out 25 years (the "Gold Book" is the publication) and last year the forecasts increased by 20-30% from the previous year, due in large part to planned data center growth. Never seen projected growth like this in my entire career, as Patrick says load has been forecast as flat or falling since the 2000s.

This is the problem with using market signals to prepare critical infrastructure: by the time the market signal arrives, the system is in crisis. Prices for capacity in the PJM BRA auction 10xd this year, similar stuff in MISO and CA has already happened. And it's coming for NY!

[Satook]

The irony of the UK insisting on 7000 changes for Hinkley Pt C is that it will now have unique issues and therefore be less safe than all its standard-issue brethren.
A larger community being able to share insights and improvements is always a good thing and they have thrown that away because “they know better”.
I really dislike know-all/arse-covering bureaucrats. 😡

[bestdungeonever]

I come for the financial analysis, I stay for the deadpan “fish disco” 😂😂😂

[yohann]

Imagine a Nuclear plant runing on Microsoft software, with Amazon HR politics and OpenAi values toward law and ethics.

[johnlynch]

As much as I like nuclear power for energy. I’m not sure I like the idea of the tec bros of silicon Valley, whose motto is move fast and break things mess around with nuclear power.

[OvisMilitaris]

The best trick Big Oil ever pulled was making it seem like nuclear reactors with regular maintenance, better safety oversight, and redundant systems couldn't be made safer and cheaper.

[jjll]

Disappointed there was no information about the need to decarbonise the rap scene with nuclear energy in this video

[antoniovillanueva]

If you have an inverter hooked to the grid, it MUST be a grid following inverter. ANY power source that is hooked to the grid absolutely must match the timing and frequency of the grid. In the beginning, power generators used a 3-bulb system to match phase of turbines to the grid before they were electrically attached to the grid..

What do you call a power source that is out of phase with the grid?
A fire.

[scipioafricanus]

I love your no nonsense straight forward delivery style. I’m convinced it’s imperative we revisit nuclear electricity generation.

[gmp]

Talking about Angela Merkel as a trained physiciat without mentioning she was the chancellour of Germany at the time is somehow funny to me.

[bossdoorpodcast]

Insane that nuclear energy is being built and dominated by AI server farms so that it can tell us measurement units like Olympic swimming pools filled with Teslas. I hope they build all these reactors and then go completely under so that we can put all that energy to actual good use.

[Murph]

Rolls Royce and Westinghouse SMRs are not being developed from scratch. Both companies have a 50-ish year history with reactors of roughly that size from supplying the reactors for UK & US nuclear submarines. In theory, their SMRs should be an evolution of their naval reactors, so shouldn't require such major leaps in technology for them.

[Bob.martens]

Crypto and AI, the two main industries driving increased power needs are also the most useless.