Micro Nuclear Power Plants Are Set to See the Light of Day

AUSTIN, Texas - July 24, 2024 - PRLog -- Power Demand From Artificial Intelligence Is Driving The Demand To Develop Smaller, Next-Generation Nuclear Power Plants

Artificial Intelligence systems may be powerful, but they are also power-hungry.

A statistical claim by analysts at the International Energy Agency summarizes the situation:
"One ChatGPT Internet Search Uses Ten Times The Amount Of Energy As A Normal (E.G. Pre-AI) Google Search."

With AI-based technology expected to become a leading economic growth engine, both software companies and the energy industry are scrambling to source enough electric power to run the data centers that will host their AI applications.

How much more power will be needed?

In Texas, the electric grid regulator, ERCOT, shocked state officials when they unexpectedly raised their electricity demand forecasts to 150,000 mega watts (MW) by 2030 – a 276% increase over today's 85,000 MW baseline – due primarily to the high demand for electricity created by AI and crypto-mining operations opening up in the state.

Goldman Sachs energy analysts predict that thanks in large part to AI, domestic data centers will consume 8% of US power output by 2030, up from 3% in 2022. Goldman also estimates that worldwide data center energy use will spike 160% by 2030 – leading to increased carbon dioxide emissions representing a "social cost" burden of between $125 and 140 billion.

Solar And Wind Have Limitations. In The Eyes Of Tech Investors, Mini Nuclear Power Plants Might Be The Right Fit

AI-focused tech companies recognize energy is a major problem.

The cost of building a bigger energy infrastructure and the risk of increasing greenhouse gas emissions could result in new regulations that threaten to take their golden goose eggs away.

The race is on to find a solution.

Reducing The Energy Use Of AI Hardware Could Help.

At GTC 2024, Nvidia introduced their next-generation Blackwell GPUs, which they claim are 25 times more energy-efficient for AI processing.

Nevertheless, AI tech companies are looking to invest in new green energy technologies, including smaller next-generation nuclear power plants, to solve the problem.

Why nuclear?

Renewables such as solar and wind are increasingly important energy sources to power the grid, but they only produce power during the day or when the wind blows (respectively), creating what power engineers call the "duck curve" – due to its distinctive overproduction curve during the day and rapid drop off during the evening hours.

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