Great Bet of Great Technology on Nuclear Power for Fuel Intelligence star-news.press/wp

Maybe it seemed to be one of the headings for women 2024: Microsoft pays $ 1.6 billion to restart three miles. It is a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania whose reactor # 2 had a partial ignition in 1979. years. There was no injuries, and no one died, but placed the nuclear industry for years. Only two new plants from that accident began.

“This is the vast ground in the nuclear industry,” said Joe Dominguez, the General Manager of Energy, who owns about half of the American 54 nuclear facilities (including the island of three miles). “This is where we learned and became better.”

He says that, as a result of an accident from 1979. there were thousands of changes in protocols and procedures regarding nuclear energy. “What people forget is that there is another reactor in place,” he said. “That page, that reactor, continued to act until 2019. years, When closed for economic reasons. Cheap natural gas, small demand, subsidizing various technologies in business, (i) no policy that supports nuclear plants to start retirement. “

So what is Microsoft’s interest?

All large technological companies have ambitious objectives to combat the climate crisis. This includes Google, Apple and Microsoft, who have committed them to reach the network of carbon zero emissions. And they progressed; Each one invested billions in wind and solar energy.

And then the artificial intelligence came then. And data centers require huge the amount of electricity. Big Tech realized that they wouldn’t make their goals of the show without taking power in your own hands.

Dominguez said: “Microsoft will enjoy the benefit of reliable, clean energy for 20 years.”

He says that the reopening of the existing object is three miles would be faster and cheaper than the construction of a completely new nuclear power plant. “At least 10 times cheaper than the construction of a new plant,” he said. “And we think that we could pass it in about three years, as opposed to the last plant built, (which) lasted for almost 10 years.”

But if you are a technical company, what do you do if you don’t have a recently retired nuclear plant? You develop new ones. Only week after Microsoft’s announcement, Both Amazon and Google announced large investments in nuclear energy.

Google complements already huge investments in green energy with a new type nuclear, called small modular reactors. “These are not a nuclear power plant yesterday, with very great cooling towers,” Michael Terrell said, which head Google’s decorational efforts. “These are much smaller contents. But because they are modular, you can collect them to make larger power plants.

It predicts that the first advanced nuclear reactor will be online until 2030. years. “And we won’t just do one reactor, but we hope to buy from what will be a number of reactors who followed that,” Terrell said.

Nuclear energy is still not perfect; still produces waste that must be safe stored. But unlike solar and wind, nuclear energy is always involved, which is essential for those and data centers.

So Google is financing a company called Kairos the power to design and build this new generation of reactors. Kairos builds three small demonstration plants in the Oak Reef, Tennessee, in the resort where uranium is processed for the first atomic bomb.

The entire Mike Laufer says his reactors do not use fuel rods; They use gravel for fuel, about the size of golf balls – mostly graffiti, with small core uranium. And every pebble has so much power as a strength like four tons of coal.

And how many carbon carbon emissions in relation to coal? “Zero,” Laufer said.

Kairos reactors also run on lower strength and lower pressure from traditional reactors, which means a lower risk.

Well, this all sounds great! But what is catch?

“There is only one problem with small modular reactors:” he said, “said the university professor of George Washington, Sharon Squassoni to be over his head.” She said too long, “she said.” I think we’ll see how strong their obligations are clean energy future. “

“So you say they may have to turn to burning things (for power)?” I asked.

“I’m pretty sure,” Squassoni replied.

“Do you think there is a little overcoffidet in them?”

“Oh, completely, completely!” She laughed.

Kairos Mike Laufer admitted: “Yes, it’s really hard. I’ll get along completely with anyone. But we do it on a smaller extent to start, then build in the future.”

Tim Joe Dominguez is ready for three miles for Microsoft, including renaming the plants craneous pure energy center. And if and set fire to the Renaissance in the American nuclear, he says: Full pairs in front.

I asked, “Why do all the new plants last so much longer and cost so much more than they are projected?”

“An honest answer? We don’t build them enough,” Dominguez said. “You don’t want to build a unique design; you want to make a type of cookie, one-post – another design.”

“Is it well understood in the government and industry that if you start doing the same design over and over again, we can come faster and cheaper?”

“It’s probably the best realized idea,” Dominguez said. “There are also Republicans and Democrats, which is difficult to say about anything! Everyone understands that if you build a common design, build a bunch of them.”

“So you think we’ll get there?”

“I know.”

Google’s Michael Terrell agrees and believes his company will do its goal of zero carbon goal by 2030. years. “It’s an incredibly ambitious goal: 24/7 carbon energy everywhere in the world,” he said. “But that’s something we work very hard and we hope to get there.”

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The story produced Mark Hudspeth. Editor: Remington Korper.

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