The US is witnessing a significant shift in the nuclear power industry with the commencement of two commercial projects, marking the first time in over a decade that such initiatives have broken ground.
TerraPower, a company founded by Bill Gates, has begun construction on a 345-megawatt plant in Wyoming, while Kairos Power has started building a plant in Tennessee that aims to supply power to Google.
The renewed interest in nuclear power comes as the tech industry seeks to power its data centers, driven by the increasing demand for artificial intelligence.
Both TerraPower and Kairos are working on smaller, streamlined reactor designs that aim to overcome the industry's historical issues of cost overruns and delays.
TerraPower's project, which will employ up to 1,600 construction workers, will use liquid sodium as a coolant and feature an energy-storage system that can boost output to 500 megawatts during peak demand.
The project is part of a public-private partnership with the Energy Department's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, with up to $2 billion in federal funding authorized.
Kairos' plant in Tennessee will supply up to 50 megawatts of electricity to the Tennessee Valley Authority, helping to offset the carbon emissions of Google's data centers.
The two projects are significant milestones for the nuclear power industry, which has been stagnant for years.
