A strategic alliance.
Google recently took a bold step towards its ambitious goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030, in a move described as the world's first corporate deal to purchase nuclear power from several small modular reactors, the tech giant signed a groundbreaking partnership with Kairos Power specialist in the development of Next Generation nuclear reactors.
This initiative, in addition to showing Google's commitment to clean energy, also marks significant progress in the decarbonization of the technology sector. In recent years, the company had already invested in other sources of sustainable energy, such as an advanced geothermal plant in Nevada, which uses subsoil heat to generate electricity, but now with this new agreement Google is betting on an even more futuristic energy solution, SMRs or small modular nuclear reactors.
But what makes these SMRs so special.
Unlike traditional nuclear reactors that are large, expensive and difficult to scale, SMRs are smaller, modular that can be combined according to the energy needs of a facility. This flexibility is one of the great attractions for Google, which plans to use these reactors. in its operations around the world especially in its data centers that require a huge amount of power to run 24/7.
In 2023 Kairos Power obtained approval from the United States regulatory commission to begin construction of its first demonstration reactor called Hermes in Tennessee and now with this agreement Google is committed to the ambitious goal of using 500 MW of nuclear energy by 2035, However, when we talk about nuclear energy the word safety always comes up, after all disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima are still fresh in everyone's memory, however, Kairos Power's small modular reactors are very different from the giant nuclear plants of the past.
They use much safer and more efficient fourth generation technology in addition to being cooled by molten salts instead of water, allowing the system to remain stable at extremely high temperatures without the risk of overheating.
These reactors use a revolutionary type of fuel known as triso, particles the size of poppy seeds, composed of a core of uranium, oxygen and carbon, encapsulated in three layers of ceramic materials that are designed to ensure that the radioactive particles remain fully contained. , even in case of failure all this combined makes this technology so special.
