Microsoft, Google, and Now Amazon- Is Nuclear Hip Again?

Last month, on September 20 came the news that Microsoft and Constellation Energy, the utility that owns Three Mile Island nuclear power facility, have inked a deal that would help restart Unit 1 at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station. the deal marked the first time a shuttered nuclear plant in the US was restarted.

The announcements from the three tech titans underscores the new acceptance of nuclear power, especially power flowing from SMRs. In India as well, key public sector energy firms and some large corporates have already started initial moves to explore, and enter the market. SMR’s are considered much more safer than traditional nuclear plants, being much smaller (Amazon’s planned SMRs are a cluster of SMRs of 80 MW each ) . The Google backed Kairos power for instance uses a molten-salt cooling system, combined with a ceramic, pebble-type fuel, to efficiently transport heat to a steam turbine to generate power. This passively safe system allows the reactor to operate at low pressure, enabling a simpler more affordable nuclear reactor design.

Expanding The Renewable Story To Nuclear

Top tech firms including these three and others were one of the earliest to push for renewable energy, including a time when it was priced higher than grid power. That allowed demand to grow and eventually, make it accessible for more and more customers in markets where they operate. Even in India, we have seen how open access deals from tech forms have headlined the larger green energy deals until recently. Nuclear power advocates will hope that the same story repeats itself with SMRs in particular, as early backing (and success with timely deliveries) could open up the SMR market with the initial burst of orders from these tech giants.

Should Other Renewables Worry?

A curious backstory to the rise of renewables especially solar and wind has been the relative pushback against nuclear power. Derided as too expensive, undependable (in terms of construction time) and ‘risky’ detractors have been happy to see older power plants shut down even as it has become clear that just solar and wind cannot bridge the vast energy gap for clean energy. The emergence of SMRs was derided as first, but now, will be taken a lot more seriously. Ironically, if they are too successful, in terms of delivering clean power dependably, long term projections for solar and wind energy capacity additions, especially post 2032 and beyond, might have to be reconsidered. Already, extreme climate change linked events that have caused extensive damage to solar plants has underscored the need to plan better in terms of plant locations, or making them more resilient to such weather.  One thing is for sure. Along with king coal, the age of making 25-50 year projections for the energy sector is also ending soon.