The first U.S. power company to sign a "small modular reactor" agreement has emerged in partnership with Google

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has reached a milestone nuclear power agreement with Google and Kairos Power, becoming the first utility company in the United States to commit to purchasing electricity from next-generation small modular reactors (SMRs).

The agreement announced on Monday shows that TVA, the largest public power supplier in the U.S., will purchase electricity from an advanced fourth-generation reactor being built by nuclear startup Kairos Power in Tennessee. This reactor has a capacity of 50 megawatts and is expected to be operational by 2030.

This deal will support Google's data centers located in Alabama and Tennessee. Although the electricity will feed into the grid rather than being supplied directly, this move allows Google to demonstrate that it has added an equivalent amount of clean energy to the grid to offset its carbon emissions generated from artificial intelligence and data center operations, fulfilling its emissions reduction commitments.

A Key Step in SMR Commercialization

At the heart of this transaction is the small modular reactor (SMR), a new type of nuclear reactor with a generating capacity of less than 300 megawatts. Proponents believe that SMRs can achieve mass production and convenient transportation, thereby reducing construction costs and timelines. TVA's signing is seen as a clear vote of confidence in the potential of SMR technology and fuel efficiency.

This deal is the first execution of a 500-megawatt energy agreement signed between Google and Kairos last year. Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos Power, stated, “This collaboration is an important driver in making advanced nuclear energy commercially competitive.”

For the entire emerging nuclear energy industry, actual orders from utility companies like TVA and tech giants like Google are a crucial step in moving technology from blueprint to commercial reality.

Regulatory Approval Secured, Federal Funding Accelerates Project Implementation

Kairos's Hermes 2 design utilizes molten fluoride salt cooling technology and is the only advanced reactor approved for construction by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as of November 2024.

The project has also received strong support from the U.S. government. The Department of Energy is investing approximately $300 million in Kairos's Hermes project through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of new nuclear technologies. Over the past 20 years, only three full-sized new nuclear reactors have come online in the U.S., highlighting the urgent need for new technologies like SMRs.

Kairos hopes to have its first commercial reactor online by 2030 and to build more reactors by 2035 to meet the future growing demand for clean energy.

AI-Driven Energy Demand, Tech Giants Turning to Nuclear Power

With the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence computing and data center scale, tech companies are facing enormous electricity demands and emissions reduction pressures. As a result, they are increasingly turning their attention to nuclear energy.

Tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft have all reached agreements with nuclear energy companies. The nuclear energy industry also hopes to secure more such long-term firm procurement commitments to ensure ongoing funding for its technologies and future market demand. Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global data center energy lead, stated that this collaboration will “help meet the demands of our growing digital economy.” At the same time, it brings stable carbon-free energy to the power system.

Just last week, data center operator Equinix signed a procurement agreement for 500 megawatts with small modular reactor group Oklo and reserved 20 reactors from Radiant Nuclear, further confirming this industry trend