Yahoo Finance Google Bets Big on Nuclear, Inks Deal with Kairos Power for 500-MW SMR Fleet to Power Data Centers
In a deal that marks the first corporate agreement to deploy multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S., Kairos Power and Google have signed a Master Plant Development Agreement that will facilitate the development of a 500 MW fleet of molten salt nuclear reactors by 2035 to power Google’s data centers. The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2030.
The agreement positions Alameda, California–based Kairos Power, developer of the fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR), to develop, build, and operate a series of advanced reactor power plants. Kairos will sell the plants’ energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
According to Google Senior Director of Energy and Climate Michael Terrell, the initial phase of work will target bringing Kairos’ first KP-FHR online “quickly and safely” by 2030. That deployment will be followed by additional reactor deployments through 2035. Plants will be sited in “relevant service territories to supply clean electricity to Google data centers,” the companies said in a joint statement on Oct. 14.
The multi-plant agreement represents a significant boost for Kairos, which has emerged as a solid frontrunner in the world’s burgeoning advanced nuclear market. “Having an agreement for multiple deployments is important to accelerate the commercialization of advanced nuclear energy by demonstrating the technical and market viability of a solution critical to decarbonizing power grids while delivering much-needed energy generation and capacity,” noted Jeff Olson, Kairos Power Vice President, Business Development & Finance.
“This early commitment from Google provides a strong customer demand signal, which reinforces Kairos Power’s continued investment in our iterative development approach and commercial production scale-up,” Olson underscored.
And for Google, it signals definitive confidence in nuclear’s role in fulfilling skyrocketing power demand projected from the tech companies’ data centers. Google, which has already signed 115 agreements—a combined 14 GW—of PPAs for renewable capacity—is committed to catalyzing new nuclear development to bolster its own net zero and 24/7 carbon-free energy goals, Terrell said.
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Architect’s rendering of the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor facility (July 2024) Courtesy: Kairos Power[/caption]
A Critical Customer Demand Signal for Kairos
Kairos, a company founded in 2016, has been developing its molten salt technology via a “rapid iterative” development approach, which includes hardware demonstrations and in-house manufacturing “to achieve disruptive cost reduction and provide true cost certainty for commercialization.”
The company recently kicked off the construction of Hermes, a 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. When it comes online as anticipated in 2027, Hermes will become Kairos’ first nuclear build. That achievement follows substantial progress on a series of Engineering Test Units (ETUs), which are non-nuclear integrated tests at the company’s KP-Southwest research and development facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In tandem, the company has made headway on the production of high-purity fluoride salt coolant for its iterative reactor series. Earlier this month, it broke ground on its Salt Production Facility at Kairos Power’s Manufacturing Development Campus in Albuquerque, a crucial facility that will utilize a “proprietary chemical manufacturing process” to produce Flibe, a chemically stable molten fluoride salt comprising a mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride salts (2LiF:BeF2) enriched in lithium-7. The fluoride salt will be used as a primary heat transfer fluid in Kairos’ KP-FHR technology. The unique heat-transfer medium will allow Hermes and future iterations to “operate at low pressure and plays an important role in radiological containment, which contributes to KP-FHR’s robust inherent safety and simplifies its design,” Kairos noted on Oct. 2.
Kairos is also developing fuel development lab facilities at its Albuquerque campus to focus on prototyping and innovation in design-build-test cycles to advance Kairos’s fuel production capabilities prior to commercial deployment, city documents suggest. The KP-FHR, notably, is designed to operate at high temperatures and near‐atmospheric pressure, using tri-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle fuel in pebble form with a carbonaceous‐matrix coated particle design.
Finally, as part of its iterative approach, Kairos has marked numerous regulatory milestones. In December 2023, the NRC granted Kairos a construction permit for its 35-MWth Hermes “non-power” demonstration. The NRC’s approval for Hermes, notably, marked the federal regulator’s first green light for the construction of a non-water-cooled reactor in more than 50 years.
The new partnership with Google adds another integral layer of certainty to Kairos’ development process. The partnership agreement, notably, will leverage a milestone-based accountability process, similar to one Kairos pioneered as part of a $303 million federal award it received under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) risk reduction pathway.
“Our partnership with Google will enable Kairos Power to quickly advance down the learning curve as we drive toward cost and schedule certainty for our commercial product,” said Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO and co-founder. “By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who deeply understands our innovative approach and the potential it can deliver.”
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Kairos Power, a privately owned nuclear engineering, design, and manufacturing company that says it is “singularly focused” on the commercialization of its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR), is pursuing a pathway that addresses technical and regulatory risks. Courtesy: Kairos[/caption]
Google’s Key Objective: Accelerate the Clean Energy Transition
As Terrell explained in a blog post on Monday, Google’s imperative stems from a responsibility to accelerate clean energy solutions. The tech giant was pivotal in pioneering corporate and industrial PPAs for renewables, starting in 2010 with a landmark 20-year agreement for wind energy in Iowa. The model allowed Google to directly purchase renewable energy at the wholesale level, helping to secure large-scale clean energy for its data centers while catalyzing the development of new wind and solar projects. “This approach has been incredibly successful: since 2008, corporate clean energy buyers have unlocked nearly 200 GW of new solar and wind capacity around the world,” Google has said.
However, in June, it partnered with NV Energy to launch a first-of-its-kind Clean Transition Tariff (CTT), a mechanism that will allow Google and other energy users to meet growing electricity demand with 24/7 carbon-free energy from “firmer” carbon-free capacity, such as enhanced geothermal, long-duration energy storage, and advanced nuclear power.
NV Energy, the first utility to pioneer the approach, has secured a first-of-its-kind energy supply agreement with Google. NV Energy is now working with geothermal developer Fervo Energy to deliver 115 MW of new enhanced geothermal power to the CTT partnership and deliver its full capacity to Google. That agreement, notably, builds on Google’s pointed backing of Fervo Energy’s 3.5-MW Project Red, a pioneering enhanced geothermal power project in Nevada that proved Fervo’s technology can deliver enhanced geothermal power at a commercial scale.
Google’s agreement with Kairos seeks similar gains with advanced nuclear. “Overall, this deal will enable up to 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to U.S. electricity grids and help more communities benefit from clean and affordable nuclear power,” Terrell wrote.
“By procuring electricity from multiple reactors—what experts call an ‘orderbook’ of reactors—we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments that are needed to lower costs and bring Kairos Power’s technology to market more quickly,” he explained. “This is an important part of our approach to scale the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities and builds on our previous efforts.”
The agreement is significant for two key reasons, Terrell said. First, the “grid needs new electricity sources to support [artificial intelligence (AI)] technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth,” he said. “This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”
Second, nuclear energy offers a round-the-clock, carbon-free power source that can meet electricity demands at all times. By working closely with local communities, the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors could help drive the decarbonization of power grids worldwide, he added. In addition to its environmental benefits, Google sees nuclear as an economic driver. The DOE “estimates reaching 200 GW of advanced nuclear capacity in the U.S. by 2050 will require an additional 375,000 workers,” he said.
Compared to large nuclear projects, advanced nuclear reactors offer “a new pathway to accelerate nuclear deployment thanks to their simplified design and robust, inherent safety,” he added. “The smaller size and modular design can reduce construction timelines, allow deployment in more places, and make the final project delivery more predictable.”
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
