Meta inked deals with three nuclear companies to power its data centers with over 6 gigawatts of electricity. The agreements, announced today, include partnerships with both established and emerging nuclear energy providers. Oklo and TerraPower, developers of small modular reactors (SMRs), will each build multiple reactors for Meta. Vistra will supply power from its existing nuclear plants.
The deals follow a request for proposals issued by Meta. They aim to secure a reliable 24/7 power source for the company's growing AI infrastructure. Tech companies are increasingly turning to nuclear energy to meet their massive electricity demands.
This move validates the potential of SMR technology. Meta's commitment offers SMR startups like Oklo and TerraPower a crucial opportunity to demonstrate the viability of their mass manufacturing approach to cost reduction. Existing nuclear plants also benefit from the increased demand.
Nuclear power offers a stable baseload energy solution. However, the limited number of existing reactors has driven interest in SMRs. These smaller reactors promise cost-effective scalability through mass production, a concept yet to be fully proven.
The next phase involves Oklo and TerraPower developing and constructing their SMRs. Meta will integrate the new nuclear capacity into its data center operations. The industry will closely watch the performance and cost-effectiveness of these deployments.
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