Google unveils plan to restart U.S. nuclear plant to power AI infrastructure

Google unveiled a plan Monday to restart a nuclear facility in Iowa to power the company’s artificial intelligence infrastructure in the latest collaboration between tech giants and electric industry players.

Under an announcement with electric power company NextEra Energy, the Duane Arnold Energy Center, which shuttered in 2020, would return to service in 2029 “to help power Google’s growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa,” the companies said in a joint press release.

Google signed off on a 25-year agreement to purchase power from the facility once it is restarted. The plant will be 100 percent owned by NextEra, which struck a deal with minority owners to purchase the share in the plant it doesn’t currently own, the companies said.

“As the US enters a new era of innovation and opportunity driven by AI, this strategic collaboration aims to enable Google to grow its business needs responsibly,” said the press release, which praised nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power.

AI has emerged as a major source of energy demand.

In April, the International Energy Agency projected that electricity consumption by data centres will more than double by 2030.

Google has announced other initiatives to secure additional power capacity, including a venture with Elementl Power to develop three advanced nuclear power plants in the United States.

In another sign of the times, the power company Constellation is in the process of restarting the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania following a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft.

That facility had closed in 2019 due to economic reasons, but it is also known for a near-catastrophic meltdown there in 1979.